When the Tennessee Volunteers visit McKale Center next season, two members of their coaching staff will feel right at home.
Former Arizona point guard Justin Coleman has joined the Tennessee staff as Assistant Director of Player Development. Coleman joins former UA assistant Justin Gainey on the Volunteers bench.
Coleman transferred from Samford to Arizona ahead of the 2018-19 season, where he started 31 games, averaging 8.9 points and a team-high 3.8 assists per game.
Coleman then spent two years as a grad assistant at Arizona before joining Tennessee Tech last season as Director of Basketball Operations. Coleman is pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Arizona, according to his Tennessee bio.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Coleman began his career playing for the Crimson Tide.
Tennessee’s trip to Arizona next season completes a home-and-home series between the two perennial NCAA Tournament teams. Arizona lost 77-73 in Knoxville last December in a game that saw some controversial calls.
ESPN has Tennessee No. 19 in its latest early preseason poll. The Vols are losing Kennedy Chandler to the draft and at least three players to the transfer portal.
Forward John Fulkerson, who ironically won the Lute Olson National Player of the Week after Tennessee’s win over Arizona last season, is gone by way of graduation.
Tennessee’s season ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan.