Tennessee Wing Juke Harris Named Second Team Preseason All-SEC by Coaches
Tennessee wing Juke Harris has been placed on the Preseason Second Team All-SEC by the league's coaches ahead of the 2026-27 season, an honor announced Thursday morning. The recognition puts Harris a step below where the media placed him, as media voters had put him on the preseason first team, while the coaches selected Alabama's Amari Allen for a first-team spot instead. Harris is joined on the second team by Florida's Alex Condon, Kentucky's Milan Momcilovic, Texas' Matas Vokietaitis and Arkansas' Jordan Smith, with Allen, Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner, Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard, Florida's Thomas Haugh and Florida's Reuben Chinyelu making up the first team.
Landing Harris was one of Tennessee's biggest wins in the transfer portal. Ranked No. 4 in On3's portal rankings last offseason, the 6-foot-7 wing averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Wake Forest. Michigan was widely viewed as the favorite after he visited the weekend after the season ended and attended its national championship parade, but Tennessee visited Harris and his family in North Carolina and later in Los Angeles. He committed shortly after the Los Angeles trip, picking the Vols over Michigan and North Carolina.
The preseason exhibitions were less encouraging. Harris scored 15 points in the loss to Xavier but needed 14 shots to get there, then scored 10 points against Duke on two-of-10 shooting. He also collected just two rebounds across the two games, a concern for a Tennessee team with a shaky frontcourt that will need its wings to rebound. Head coach Rick Barnes made clear the staff believes in Harris, Jalen Haralson and Miles Rubin, but needs far more from that group once the games count against outside competition.
What happened in exhibition play will soon be set aside. Tennessee opens the regular season next Tuesday at home against Wofford at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, followed by three buy games over the first two weeks before Michigan State comes to Knoxville on Nov. 17. The schedule then brings three games in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival starting with Maryland, and a demanding December that includes Florida State at home, NC State at a neutral site in Nashville, and a road game at Purdue.