Gonzaga reportedly to play Tennessee in scrimmage

The Gonzaga Bulldogs reportedly will take part in a scrimmage against the Tennessee Volunteers on Oct, 28, in Frisco Texas, and it will be open to the public, Mike Wilson with the Knoxville News Sentinel reported on Friday.

Like most of the top schools across the country, Gonzaga regularly schedules one or two scrimmages at the beginning of the season for a tune up. Some years, it is to see the new pieces and how they fit in. Other seasons, like this one, in which the Zags are returning six of their top eight scorers, are another chance to pit the players against high-level competition.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes scheduled scrimmages with Gonzaga back when he was the coach of the Texas Longhorns, so it looks like the relationship between Barnes and Gonzaga coach Mark Few still runs deep.

Tennessee had a solid year last year, entering the NCAA Tournament as a three-seed. Ultimately, they fell very short of expectations, losing in the second round to No. 11 Michigan, 76-68.

With Kentucky ready to make a deep tournament run and Eric Musselman recruiting approximately half of the nation for Arkansas, it’ll be a grind for Tennessee in the SEC, who are staring down the prospects of replacing star freshman Kennedy Chandler. Chandler was drafted No. 38 in the 2022 NBA Draft.