1980–81 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

1980–81 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
1980–81 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 15
Record	21–8 (12–6 SEC)
Head coach	Don DeVoe (3rd season);
Home arena	Stokely Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 LSU	17	–	1	.944	31	–	5	.861
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3	.833	22	–	6	.786
No. 15 Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
Alabama	10	–	8	.556	18	–	11	.621
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	19	–	12	.613
Ole Miss †	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Florida	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Auburn	4	–	14	.222	11	–	16	.407
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	8	–	19	.296

† 1981 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1980–81 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1980–81 college basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Don DeVoe, the team played their home games at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers finished with a record of 21–8 (12–6 SEC, 2nd) and received an at-large bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament as the 4 seed in the East region. After an opening round win over VCU, Tennessee was defeated by No. 1 seed and eventual Final Four participant Virginia, 62–48.^[2]

This was the third of five straight seasons of NCAA Tournament basketball for the Tennessee men's program. The Volunteers would not reach the Sweet Sixteen again until the 2000 NCAA tournament.

Roster

1980–81 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Tyrone Beaman	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Fr	Niagara Falls, New York
F	14	Dale Ellis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Marietta, Georgia
G	21	Michael Brooks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Memphis, Tennessee
G	30	Gary Carter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr	Johnson City, Tennessee
C	33	Dan Federmann	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Fr	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	40	Willie Burton	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Millen, Georgia
F	44	Howard Wood	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Southampton, New York
F	53	Steve Ray	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Collinsville, Illinois
F/C	54	Randy Bates	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Old Hickory, Tennessee

Head coach

Don DeVoe (Ohio State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 29, 1980*		Rollins	W 94–58	1–0	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 3, 1980		at Auburn	L 65–75	1–1 (0–1)	Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
Dec 6, 1980*		Purdue	W 78–69	2–1	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 9, 1980*		Lafayette	W 72–42	3–1	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 13, 1980*		Colorado	W 87–69	4–1	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 19, 1980*		Iona	W 80–54	5–1	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 20, 1980*		No. 18 Brigham Young	W 81–65	6–1	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 28, 1980*		vs. No. 11 Arizona State Sugar Bowl Tournament	W 69–53	7–1	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 29, 1980*		vs. Duke Sugar Bowl Tournament	W 90–69	8–1	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 3, 1981	No. 18	at Alabama	W 70–69	9–1 (1–1)	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 7, 1981	No. 13	Ole Miss	W 73–68	10–1 (2–1)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 10, 1981	No. 13	at No. 4 Kentucky	L 47–48	10–2 (2–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 14, 1981	No. 13	Florida	W 78–64	11–2 (3–2)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 17, 1981	No. 11	at Vanderbilt	W 72–66	12–2 (4–2)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 21, 1981	No. 11	Mississippi State	W 81–57	13–2 (5–2)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 24, 1981	No. 8	at No. 5 LSU	L 63–80	13–3 (5–3)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 28, 1981	No. 8	Georgia	W 72–67	14–3 (6–3)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 31, 1981	No. 11	Alabama	W 62–58	15–3 (7–3)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 4, 1981	No. 11	at Ole Miss	L 52–71	15–4 (7–4)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Feb 7, 1981	No. 10	No. 6 Kentucky	W 87–71	16–4 (8–4)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 11, 1981	No. 10	at Florida	W 53–52	17–4 (9–4)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 14, 1981	No. 9	Vanderbilt	W 79–72	18–4 (10–4)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 18, 1981	No. 9	at Mississippi State	W 73–70	19–4 (11–4)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 21, 1981	No. 8	No. 4 LSU	L 65–66	19–5 (11–5)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 25, 1981	No. 8	at Georgia	L 75–76	19–6 (11–6)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Feb 28, 1981	No. 10	Auburn	W 75–63	20–6 (12–6)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1981* TVS	No. 10	vs. Ole Miss Quarterfinals	L 71–81	20–7	BJCC Coliseum Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1981*	(4 E) No. 15	vs. (5 E) VCU Second round	W 58–56 ^OT	21–7	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 19, 1981*	(4 E) No. 15	vs. (1 E) No. 5 Virginia East Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 48–62^[2]	21–8	The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4] ^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	27	Howard Wood	Utah Jazz

^[7]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ ^a ^b "Virginia Routs Tennessee". The Washington Post. March 20, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 921–922. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[UVA-2] "Virginia Routs Tennessee". The Washington Post. March 20, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[3] "1980-81 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[4] "1980-81 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[5] "2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[ESPN-6] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 921–922. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[7] "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

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