With basketball season less than three weeks away, Rick Barnes and Kim Caldwell spoke Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala. to preview the season.

Tennessee's men's program — ranked 18th in the Associated Press preseason poll — will face No. 6 Duke in an exhibition at home Oct. 26 before opening the regular season against Mercer on Nov. 3. The Vols' non-conference schedule features neutral-site meetings with No. 2 Houston and No. 17 Illinois and a home date against No. 11 Louisville.

The No. 8 Lady Vols open the season Nov. 4 against No. 9 N.C. State in Greensboro, N.C. Caldwell's squad will travel to face No. 3 UCLA and No. 1 Connecticut alongside a strong Southeastern Conference schedule. In total, Tennessee plays seven games against preseason top-10 opponents, including facing the entire top six.

Here's what Barnes and Caldwell shared about their teams ahead of the season.

Rick Barnes highlights Vols newcomers

The Vols are relying on an immediate impact from transfer guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. While at Maryland last year, he averaged 14.7 points and 4.8 assists as the Terrapins went to the Sweet 16. Gillespie was recently named to the SEC's preseason second team.

Gillespie's continued availability will be a major asset for Tennessee. He averaged 31.6 minutes per contest last season and will be expected to do the same this season.

"His durability is very similar to Zakai (Zeigler)," Barnes said. "He never wants to take himself out. He wants to go every rep in practice. He probably has put in more mileage than anybody."

Like Gillespie, freshman Nate Ament was also given preseason second-team honors in the SEC. The 6-foot-10 forward is the third top-five recruit in program history alongside Tobias Harris and Allan Houston.

As is the case with anyone joining a Barnes-coached team, Ament's attitude in preseason camp makes a difference. Barnes has been impressed with his work ethic through summer and fall practice.

"He's come in with the attitude he needs to get better, blend in with the guys on the team," Barnes said. "He certainly has a great respect for his teammates. They have a great respect for him because they see how diligent he goes about his job every day."

Ament has been challenged to do new things so far in practice and hasn't wavered from it. Despite getting moved around a lot, Ament is poised to make an impact right from the start of the year.

"We kept him exclusively on the outside right now because of our front line depth," Barnes said. "He's learning to do things at a level that he's never had to, which is not unique to freshmen coming in, knowing how to go from one play to the next play, sustain it, turn and go the other way quicker than he ever has."

Kim Caldwell sets standards for Lady Vols

After reaching the Sweet 16 in her first season, Caldwell wants the Lady Vols to go even farther this season. It will take five months of consistency, but the second-year coach wants to be in Phoenix for the Final Four in April.

"We have to make sure we remember what the goal is," Caldwell said. "The goal is to make it to an Elite Eight or Final Four. Those are conversations we're having. That takes hard work and it takes consistency."

A strong first season allowed Caldwell to attack the transfer portal with a proof of concept. Her most important additions are forwards Jersey Wolfenbarger and Janiah Barker.

Wolfenbarger comes in from LSU where she made an impact in a frontcourt that included first-round WNBA selection Aneesah Morrow. She led the Tigers in field goal shooting and averaged 4.6 points per game. Her athletic ability makes her poised for success in Caldwell's system.

Barker was an important piece of UCLA's first trip to the Final Four in program history, scoring 7.4 points per game. She was second behind only all-American center Lauren Betts with six rebounds per game. Like Wolfenbarger, she is a good fit for the fast-paced style the Lady Vols play.

"I think they're great for what we do because they're bigs in guards' bodies," Caldwell said. "They like to fly around. They're very good in pressing. They like to run the floor in transition. They would rather play outside than in. We don't have a traditional post player. We play five out."

The most important part of summer and fall practice last season was teaching the system, and that's still the case for Tennessee's eight newcomers. Additionally, the returners can start to preach what Caldwell has implemented into the Lady Vols program.

"Anything from we don't put our hands on our knees when we're tired," Caldwell said. "We want to be the hardest-playing team. We work very hard. We want to be in the gym extra outside our practices making sure our individual game is better."