To Rick Barnes, Tennessee basketball's Julian Phillips is nation's most effective freshman

Julian Phillips relentlessly fought for rebounds with a physical, upperclassmen-laden Eastern Kentucky team Wednesday.

The Tennessee basketball freshman more than matched the force he faced. He had a career-high 10 rebounds as part of his first career double-double in Tennessee's 84-49 win at Thompson-Boling Arena. It marked the latest standout moment for Phillips, who has littered the first nine games of his career with game-changing play.

"I’m not sure there’s been a more effective freshman in college basketball," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "I don’t know if anyone’s affected their team as much as he has.”

UPDATE: Rick Barnes hopeful Santiago Vescovi will play for Tennessee basketball vs. Maryland

Phillips, a former five-star prospect, started all nine games for No. 7 Tennessee (8-1) and had his sixth double-digit outing against the Colonels, including three straight.

Phillips has excelled at getting to the free-throw line, making more free throws than any of his teammates have attempted. He is 48-for-61 at the free-throw line. No other Vol has more than 45 attempts and only four have more than 30.

Phillips elevated his rebounding to a new level against the Colonels, grabbing a game high Wednesday after having four and five rebounds in the past two games, respectively.

The 6-foot-8, 198-pound Phillips said that crashing the boards is something the coaches have emphasized.

“That’s something our coaches want us to do," Phillips said. "Just be aggressive on the offensive boards and defensive boards. So for myself, I’m just trying to be as aggressive as I can be.”

Phillips is Tennessee's leading scorer with 12.2 points per game. He also is putting up 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and shooting 38.7% from the field and 80.4% from the free-throw line. He has struggled on 3-pointers, shooting 21.1%. But Barnes is confident those shots will fall.

"He’s a better free-throw shooter than he’s shooting it right now," Barnes said. "He can really shoot the ball. He is learning the pace of the game. It is hard to guard the way we want to guard. It’s all new to him. He’s obviously played on the perimeter some, but mostly in high school he probably played more around the basket with post guys. Now, he’s learning how to switch and do some fix-it things."

Phillips echoed Barnes' sentiments, stating he knows he is a better shooter than his current percentages.

“I know there will be some nights where shots don’t fall and some nights that they do," Phillips said. "Just staying consistent in the gym with it, keep getting shots up and I know eventually it’ll come back around.”

Phillips was the No. 15 player in the country in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports Composite. He scored a career-high 25 points and had eight rebounds in Tennessee's 73-66 win over the University of Southern California in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 24.

Phillips averaged 15.3 points in Tennessee's three-game homestand before a pair of key nonconference games. The Vols face No. 13 Maryland (8-1) in New York City for the Hall of Fame Invitational on Sunday (4:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1) and on the road against No. 9 Arizona (7-1) on Dec. 17.

“Two really good teams, so you know it’s going to be a high-level game and those are the fun games we look forward to as players," Phillips said.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee's Julian Phillips is nation's most effective freshman