1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

American college basketball season

1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball

SEC Regular season co-champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Record	20–10 (13–5 SEC)
Head coach	Don DeVoe (4th season)
Home arena	Stokely Athletic Center
Seasons← 1980–81 1982–83 →

1981–82 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 15 Kentucky	13	–	5	.722	22	–	8	.733
Tennessee	13	–	5	.722	20	–	10	.667
No. 13 Alabama †	12	–	6	.667	24	–	7	.774
Ole Miss	11	–	7	.611	18	–	12	.600
LSU	11	–	7	.611	14	–	14	.500
Georgia	10	–	8	.556	19	–	12	.613
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	13	.536
Auburn	7	–	11	.389	14	–	14	.500
Mississippi State	4	–	14	.222	8	–	19	.296
Florida	2	–	16	.111	5	–	22	.185

† 1982 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1981–82 college basketball season. Led by fourth-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 20–10 (13–5 SEC, T-1st) and received an at-large bid to the 1982 NCAA tournament as the 9 seed in the Mideast region. After an opening round win over Southwestern Louisiana, Tennessee was defeated by No. 1 seed Virginia for the second straight season.

This was the fourth of five straight seasons of NCAA Tournament basketball for the Tennessee men's program. Junior Dale Ellis was named the SEC Player of the Year – an award he would take home the next season as well.

Roster

1981–82 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)	—	So	Niagara Falls, New York
G	12	Ed Littleton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Jr	Paris, Tennessee
F	14	Dale Ellis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Marietta, Georgia
G	21	Michael Brooks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Memphis, Tennessee
G	22	Jerald Hyatt	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Knoxville, Tennessee
G	23	Myron Carter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Madison, Tennessee
C	24	Walter Evans	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Fr	Morristown, Tennessee
F	25	Seth McDonald	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Tullahoma, Tennessee
G	30	Gary Carter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Johnson City, Tennessee
F	31	Kevin Woods	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Fr	Baltimore, Maryland
F	32	Kirk Naler	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr	Gadsden, Alabama
C	33	Dan Federmann	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	So	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	40	Willie Burton	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Millen, Georgia
F	53	Steve Ray	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Collinsville, Illinois
F/C	54	Randy Bates	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	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

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1981*		at Purdue	L 68–82	0–1	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 8, 1981*		at Colorado	W 64–63	1–1	Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado
Dec 12, 1981		Auburn	W 86–79	2–1 (1–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 20, 1982	No. 20	at Mississippi State	W 54–44	12–3	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 23, 1982	No. 20	LSU	W 77–67	13–3	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 4, 1982* TVS		vs. Vanderbilt Quarterfinals	W 57–54	19–8	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 5, 1982* TVS		vs. No. 18 Alabama Semifinals	L 50–56	19–9	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1982*	(9 ME)	vs. (8 ME) Southwestern Louisiana First round	W 61–57	20–9	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 14, 1982*	(9 ME)	vs. (1 ME) No. 3 Virginia Second round	L 51–54	20–10	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

sports-reference.com 1981-82 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "Virginia Wins, 54-51, As Tennessee Fades Out". The Washington Post. March 15, 1982. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
"1981-82 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
"1981-82 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
"2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
*ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

v t e Tennessee Volunteers basketball
Venues	Alumni Memorial Gym (1934–1958) Stokely Athletic Center (1958–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal "Rocky Top" Smokey
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

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