DeWayne Brown II may have felt a little lonely last spring as his former University of Tennessee men’s basketball teammates either graduated or transferred. At one point, Brown was one of only two returning scholarship players remaining, along with sophomore guard Troy Henderson.
But Brown never seriously considered departing Rocky Top. The sophomore forward saw a brighter future if he remained a Vol.
“I feel like the coaching staff was great to me. I was fortunate enough to play last year and kind of be in the mix, so I just feel like I had no reason in myself to leave,” Brown says. “I mean, Tennessee is just the kind of place that I want to be. I love the fans, the arena, really everything about here kind of screams college basketball; this is where I want to be.”
Brown will be a stabilizing force in the lineup for Tennessee, which hosts Xavier in an exhibition game on Oct. 15 at Food City Center. The Vols will also play an exhibition against Duke on Oct. 20 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina before opening the season on Nov. 3 against Wofford at Food City Center.
Brown core of a rebuild
UT’s rebuilt roster features nine transfers and four freshmen. The 6-foot-8, 248-pound Brown is the only returning frontcourt player. The Vols have restocked their frontcourt with incoming transfers Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago), Braedan Lue (Kennesaw State), Christian Fermin (VCU), and Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame).
Brown, a former four-star prospect from Hoover, Alabama, averaged 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game last season as a freshman.
“He’s a totally different player. His mindset is different, too. And he did a lot of good things last year,” UT head coach Rick Barnes says. “He was the biggest surprise we had last year when we got him. There was a possibility we thought we might redshirt him. But quickly, watching him and Felix (Okpara) go after each other every day, DeWayne was, again, the biggest surprise a year ago. And he’s just kept working.”
Brown’s impact goes beyond the court for UT. It was announced last week that Brown will serve as the vice chair of the 2026-27 SEC Men’s Basketball Leadership Council. In his first season as a member of the group, Brown’s peers voted him as the vice chair.
“DeWayne definitely is talking more this year than he did a year ago, but he leads with his work ethic every day,” Barnes says. “DeWayne’s very mature. He wants to be good, he does. He understands his game, what he has to do. He puts in a lot of time. He’s put in a lot of time on a lot of different things, like we had Pro Day (last week), and he stepped out and hit a three. So, you go back and you look at him, it just goes to show, hard work pays off.”
Putting examples to work
Brown had good examples of hard work and leadership growing up. His mother, April Dickerson, has been the director of family life at a Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama for the last 23 years. He graduated from high school with a 3.64 GPA and served as a peer mentor.
Having a year of SEC play under his belt and knowing what Barnes expects from his players has given Brown more conviction in his actions.
“I feel like I’m playing with a little bit more confidence,” Brown says. “I was always a settled-in player, but now the game has slowed down for me, being able to play the minutes that I played last year. Another thing that kind of stands out about me this year is I’m more of a leader, and kind of try to lead a lot by example. I use my voice more, and I try to kind of help the other guys pick up on what we’re doing”
Although Brown has embraced being a stronger voice for the Vols, he doesn’t see the essence of his role changing much.
“I got to come in and I got to embrace it. I got to be a dog,” he says. “I got to be more aggressive on the rebounds. I got to be able to get buckets, and I got to be able to play defense.”
That’s music to the ears of Barnes, who places a high priority on those aspects of the game. Brown’s decision to remain at UT rather than transfer provides the Vols with a foundational piece inside to completely rebuild around.
“We certainly appreciate him wanting to be here. I can’t imagine where we would be without him,” Barnes says. “Because he was the one guy that, all through the summer, because Troy was out, by example showed these guys what he knows it takes for us to get better.”