Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee basketball’s 2025-26 season came to a close Sunday afternoon when Michigan routed the Vols in the Elite Eight. Rick Barnes and his staff now turn to the offseason and rebuilding their roster as they try to make another run next year.

The Vols lose four seniors to graduation, likely lose Nate Ament to the NBA Draft and will likely lose multiple players to the transfer portal. One potential departure is power forward Jaylen Carey.

Will Carey return to Tennessee for his senior season?

“If they want me back, I definitely do want to be here,” Carey told RTI Sunday. “I love it here. I definitely do want to change my body around. I want to get into the best shape and be more effective for them. That was a goal for me coming into the season this year and I let that part down. My main focus when I come back is I won’t let that happen again. That’s just the main focus.”

Whether Carey wants to be back at Tennessee when the Vols give him his revenue share/NIL offer for next season and the pain of the Michigan loss wear off will be the true test. It is unlikely that Carey will make as much money as he did this season at Tennessee in his senior year.

It was an up-and-down season for Carey with the Vanderbilt transfer averaging 7.4 points and six rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game. He had strong moments early in the season, especially in a three-game stretch against Houston, Kansas and Syracuse where he averaged 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.

But Carey struggled for much of SEC play including an 11 game stretch where he scored in double figures just once. Carey was an inefficient post scorer, shooting 48.7% from the field and 49.1% from the line.

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As Carey eluded to, he did not change his body and get into as good of shape as Tennessee’s staff wanted him. That affected his defense and his ability to play long stretches of time effectively.

The bruising forward did play his best basketball at the right time and was crucial for Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. Carey scored 10 points against Virginia, totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa State and added eight points against Michigan.

“I have been after Jaylen harder than anybody all year, anybody,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said following the Iowa State game. “There’s days he looked at me like, man, this dude is crazy; but he never said a word, kept going. He does what he needs to do. I’m really happy for him. I really am.

As the only junior on Tennessee’s current roster, Carey wants to step into a bigger leadership role next season if he’s back at Tennessee.

“Just being more mentally prepared,” Carey said. “Being more of a leader. Be more effective in every way on the floor and off the floor. I want to become more of a leader role because I see now what it takes to be here and just the feeling you get to get so far and fall up short, it does hurt. It’s just really tough to swallow right now. I feel like we gelled so much as the year went on. I love everybody here and it’s tough right now.”

Carey has played at three schools in his first three seasons. He began in his career at James Madison before transferring to Vanderbilt when his coach Mark Byington landed the job. Carey transferred across the state to Tennessee after one year in Nashville.