Duke is scheduled to play Tennessee on October 20 at 7:00 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the game will be on ACCN. It is only an exhibition, but it has the feel of something more because Tennessee is set to visit Cameron for the first time since 1975.
That is why Duke Basketball is drawing attention this week: not for the result, which will not count, but for the unusual stage and the unfamiliar look of Rick Barnes' team. Barnes has added nine new players through the portal, and Tennessee will bring a roster that is still taking shape, with only DeWayne Brown, Gavin Paull, Campbell Duncan and Troy Henderson back from last season's group.
The newcomers give Tennessee a very different profile. Tyler Lundblade, Jalen Haralson, Juke Harris, Terrence Hill Jr., Dai Dai Ames, Miles Rubin, Christian Fermin, Braedan Lue and Jalen Washington are all in the mix, along with freshmen Manny Green, Marquis Clark, Ralph Scott and Chris Washington Jr. Brown is listed at 6-8 and 248 pounds, while Washington is 6-10 and 244, Lue is 6-8 and 243, and Fermin is 6-10 and 234. In Tennessee's game against Xavier, Brown, Harris, Ames, Rubin and Troy Henderson started, which is the clearest sign of how Barnes may be forced to sort out a rotation that is still in motion.
That uncertainty matters because the game is being treated as more than a tune-up. Duke has already seen several of these players before, including Harris, Ames, Haralson and Washington, and Barnes has to decide how much size and scoring he wants on the floor at once. Brown played 14.7 minutes per game last year, Harris averaged 21.4 points for Wake Forest, Ames had a solid season for California, Haralson was a bright spot for Notre Dame as a freshman, and Terrence Hill Jr. arrived after averaging 15.0 points and 2.8 assists for VCU while winning A-10 Sixth Man of the Year and A-10 Tournament MVP.
There is still a catch in the middle of all that. Jalen Washington may still be trying to get eligible, which means Tennessee's shape on October 20 may not match the group Barnes is assembling now. Christian Fermin adds another layer after hand surgery in July and a season at VCU in which he played only 3.3 minutes per game and made 33.3 percent of his shots. For a game that does not count, this one may tell both teams more than most exhibitions ever do.
The bigger question now is not whether Tennessee will come to Cameron on October 20. It is which version of Barnes' new roster will actually take the floor when the lights come on at 7:00.
