The University of Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball program has never won a national championship, but it has had plenty of success since its inception in 1908. The team has an all-time winning percentage of more than .600, won 11 conference championships, and participated in 26 NCAA Tournaments, where it has a record of 28-27. It has also produced several players who have had success in the National Basketball Association (NBA), including all-time leading scorer Allan Houston.
A four-time All-SEC guard, Houston scored a record 2,801 points in four seasons with the Volunteers from 1989-90 to 1992-93. He averaged at least 20 points per game (PPG) in every season, including a career-best 23.7 points in his sophomore season. He led all SEC players with 22.3 points in his senior season. Houston's 21.9 career PPG and 2,801 total points rank 14th and second in SEC history, respectively. He is 21st in total points among all NCAA men's basketball players.
The Detroit Pistons selected Houston 11th overall in the 1993 NBA Draft. He played three seasons with Detroit and nine with the New York Knicks, earning All-Star recognition in consecutive years in 1999-00 and 2000-01. Houston averaged 17.3 PPG through 839 career NBA regular season games.
Ernie Grunfeld ranks second in Volunteers history with 2,249 points, 30 more than third-place Tony White. Grunfeld, who also later played in the NBA, averaged 22.3 PPG in four seasons at Tennessee. He led all SEC players with 25.4 PPG in his junior season in 1975-76 and was SEC Player of the Year and a Consensus All-American the following year. Selected 11th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1977 NBA Draft, Grunfeld averaged 7.4 points in 693 games with the Bucks, Knicks, and Kansas City Kings.
White, meanwhile, scored 2,219 points in four seasons with Tennessee from 1983-84 to 1986-87. He led all SEC players in scoring in 1985-86 and 1986-87 and won SEC Player of the Year in the latter season. The Chicago Bulls drafted the three-time All-SEC guard in the second round of the 1987 NBA Draft. White, however, didn't have the same level of success or longevity in the NBA as Houston or Grunfeld. He averaged just 5.3 PPG in 49 games with the Bulls, Knicks, and Golden State Warriors.
Chris Lofton and Reggie Johnson rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in all-time scoring for the Volunteers. Lofton scored 2,131 points in four seasons from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was a three-time All-SEC guard, made the SEC All-Freshman team, and earned SEC Player of the Year and Consensus All-American designation in 2006-07 after averaging 20.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He is 11th all-time in SEC scoring. Despite his success in college, Lofton wasn't drafted to the NBA but has enjoyed a solid career overseas, playing for teams in Turkey, Lithuania, France, and South Korea.
Johnson, a 6-foot-9 forward who also made the All-SEC team three times, scored 2,103 points with the Volunteers from 1976-77 to 1979-80. He also ranked in the top 10 in the conference for rebounds per game in 1977-78 and 1978-79. The San Antonio Spurs selected Johnson 15th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft. He averaged 8.4 PPG in 305 games with the Spurs, Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Philadelphia 76ers.
