FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo, Tennessee guard Jordan Bone (0) drives past Eastern Kentucky guard Jomaru Brown (11) during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn. For a guy whose game is built on speed, Bone has required plenty of patience in his slow but steady emergence as one of the Southeastern Conference's top point guards. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)
Wade PayneCOLUMBIA, MO. • At the start of the 2017-18 men’s basketball season, Tennessee was nothing but an afterthought in the Southeastern Conference, picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league.