J.P. Estrella is dealing with a “pretty tough ankle sprain” as Tennessee basketball begins preseason practices on Sept. 23, Vols coach Rick Barnes said.
“He is slowly working himself back again,” Barnes said Sept. 22 at his annual golf outing in support of Emerald Youth Foundation. “We expect tomorrow when we get going that he will be ready to go. That was our goal from the beginning — to get him ready for the first day and start building from there.”
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Estrella missed all but three games in the 2024-25 season after having season-ending surgery on his left foot in November. The redshirt sophomore is averaging 1.9 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game in 28 career games.
Barnes said Estrella was “doing great” prior to spraining his ankle during offseason practices.
“He came back and was playing the best basketball he had played,” Barnes said.
The Vols were methodical with Estrella during the offseason as he worked back to health following foot surgery. He increased his participation in practice from light work to full 5-on-5 portions while recovering. Barnes said on July 31 that Estrella was “right where need him to be.”
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The 6-foot-11 forward is one of three returners at forward alongside Cade Phillips and Felix Okpara. UT also added Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey and signed four-star recruit DeWayne Brown II in the 2025 recruiting class, bulking up the forward position after the group was thinned out to two players during Tennessee’s second straight Elite Eight run.
“With guys being out, you look at that as an opportunity for other guys to get a lot of reps,” Barnes said. “I think it really benefited a guy like Dwayne Brown that J.P. wasn’t there.”
Estrella was expected to be a key piece of Tennessee’s interior play in the 2024-25 season alongside Phillips and Okpara, but his season ended early due to injury. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game in three games.
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Estrella played in 25 games and averaged 5.0 minutes per game as a freshman in the 2023-24 season. He averaged 1.6 points and 0.8 rebounds. The four-star recruit in the 2023 class impressed against Purdue and 7-foot-4 All-American Zach Edey in UT’s season-ending loss in the Elite Eight.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: J.P. Estrella injury update: Tennessee basketball forward ankle issue
