Tennessee Basketball bringing back 'Dark Mode' alternate uniform vs. Syracuse

Tennessee Basketball is bringing back its all-black ‘Dark Mode’ alternate uniform for Tuesday night’s ACC/SEC Challenge game against Syracuse at JMA Wireless Dome. The Vols debuted the black uniform in the home win over Syracuse last season and wore them again in a road win at Oklahoma.

No. 13 Tennessee (7-1) and Syracuse (4-3) are scheduled for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2.

It’s the first all-black uniform in Tennessee Basketball program history. Tennessee Football introduced a black alternate uniform during the 2021 and has worn the uniform once per season over the last five seasons.

Rick Barnes first mentioned a black alternate uniform was in the works in the summer of 2024, not long after the Tennessee baseball team won the College World Series wearing its alternate black jersey.

‘Obviously our brand is popular and I know people like (black uniforms)’

During an appearance on ‘Josh & Swain’ on WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville at the time, Barnes told Josh Ward and Jayson Swain that a black alternate uniform had been “mocked up” and was “in the works” for his Tennessee Basketball team. 

“I will tell you this,” Barnes said, when asked about the possibility of a ‘Dark Mode’ alternate basketball uniform during the radio appearance, “we have designed one in the offseason.

“Because one, Nike wants us to do that. Obviously our brand is popular and I know people like (black uniforms). I wear black most every day.” 

Vols have added multiple alternate uniforms since 2017

Tennessee in January 2023 introduced a ‘Tennessee Classic’ uniform, an off-white uniform with orange piping and a script ‘Vols’ across the chest, paying homage to uniforms worn by the team in 1936. The alternate uniform made its debut against Texas in the Big 12-SEC Challenge in January 2023 and has been worn multiple times each of the last two seasons, including both NCAA Tournaments the last two years.

There was also a ‘Smokey Grey’ uniform designed and worn in 2017, but has not been used since. Tennessee’s current uniform started as a throwback alternate unveiled in November 2018.

With a ‘Dark Mode’ alternate uniform, Barnes had a point he wanted to make with Nike. If the Vols are getting black uniforms, he wants them to be all black. 

“I told them, I said, (if) we’re going wear black, we’re going to wear black,” Barnes said. “It’s not going to have a lot of piping on it. It’s going be pretty much look like our baseball uniform, but with black pants and with no piping on it. Because I said if that’s what we’re going we’re going to do, we’re going to do it that way.”