KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee men’s basketball guard Jalen Haralson is one of 13 newcomers on head coach Rick Barnes’ roster. As a freshman at Notre Dame last season, Haralson averaged 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26.6 minutes per game and shot 51.5 percent from the field.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore transfer can score with the best of them and does a great job of moving without the ball. In 2025-26, he was one of eight Division I freshmen to average at least 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Now he is in a new system under Barnes in Knoxville. He has also bought in and adjusted well to what Barnes demands.
Offense alone doesn’t carry a player in Barnes’ program. He has a reputation for toughness, defense and accountability, and newcomers usually need some time before that standard sinks in. Haralson said the daily push from his head coach is what stood out most when he arrived from South Bend.
“I’ll say just him challenging me every day, being an everyday guy,” Haralson said. “That’s something that stood out to me, coming from where I was at to here. I’ve grown a lot since I’ve been here already.”
That fits with what Barnes said Tuesday about this group. With 13 new faces, Barnes could have spent most of the preseason just getting everyone on the same page. Instead, he said the newcomers have accepted the work and tried to reshape their games to fit what Tennessee does.
“They have embraced the things that we’ve tried to instill, whether it’s maybe breaking some bad habits or creating new habits,” Barnes said.
Tennessee’s defense is a backbone of Barnes’ best teams, and a player who could rely on his scoring at Notre Dame now has to guard on every possession, every day. He admitted the adjustment of the day-to-day hit him hard at first, but he said his body has caught up to what is being asked of him.
“You got to bring it every day,” Haralson said. “There’s no reps off, there’s no days off, and your body gets used to that to a point. When I first got here, I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ Like, all season of this. But now I can work out after practice after having a hard defensive day.”
The conditioning side has been just as demanding. Barnes has said his players are in shape and that the real battle is mental, and Haralson spoke on those experiences. He described practices that pushed him past what he thought he could physically handle, and he credited Barnes for pulling that out of him.
“I think at one practice I had to run three 17s in the middle of the practice and jump straight back into the drills,” Haralson said. “I didn’t know I could put up 1,000 shots a day before coming here. But that’s what Coach Barnes does. He shows you things that you don’t even think you can do.”
Those 1,000 shots a day could matter most at the three-point line. Haralson was one of the most efficient young scorers in the country inside the arc at Notre Dame. He shot 54.3 percent from 2-point range and made 70.3 percent of his attempts from within 4.5 feet. His work from the midrange and around the rim is already polished.
The outside shot was not there yet. He went 5 of 25 from beyond the arc as a freshman. That’s a low amount of shots, and most defenses may want to make him prove he can actually shoot it. If he can turn the perimeter jumper into a real threat, defenders lose that cushion, and his ability to get downhill becomes even harder to stop.
Haralson said shooting is part of what he wants to show this season, along with the defensive versatility he believes sets him apart.
“My ability to guard four positions at a high level,” Haralson said. “Offensively, knocking down shots, getting to the rim, playmaking, just showing every part of my game, because I feel like I’m versatile.”
All of that work will finally be tested against someone else soon. Tennessee faces Xavier on Oct. 15 and Duke on Oct. 20 in exhibition play, two strong measuring sticks for a roster still learning to play together. Haralson believes the toughest scout the Vols have seen so far has come from their own practice floor, where both sides know every set.
“Everybody knows our offense,” Haralson said. “When we’re playing each other, both teams have the same offense, and these guys still score on it. So if it’s working against these guys that know what’s coming, it has to work in the game.”
If Haralson brings the same production he had at Notre Dame, along with the defensive edge Barnes is building in him. And he turns those extra shots into a threat from deep, Tennessee may have one of the more complete guards in the SEC.
