Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Director of Men's Basketball Sports Performance
- Email:
- garrett.medenwald@utk.edu
THE MEDENWALD FILE
Personal Information
Full Name: Garrett Steven MedenwaldBorn: Jan. 13, 1990, in Madison, Wis.
Hometown: Green Bay, Wis.
High School: Preble
College: Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2013
Wife: Brittny
Children: Case, Cleo and Ari
Coaching Experience
- 2012-14:
Texas, graduate manager - 2014-15:
Texas, strength and conditioning intern - 2015-Present:
Tennessee, director of men's basketball sports performance
His basketball-specific training methods and emphasis on injury prevention began to bear fruit for the Volunteers quickly upon his arrival on Rocky Top. Ten players who trained under Medenwald’s supervision at Tennessee have been selected in the NBA Draft, including four in the first round. All 10 are since 2019, good for the third-most of any school in the nation over the last seven years.
In three straight years, 2021-23, a Volunteer led the NBA Draft Combine in max vertical leap: Keon Johnson in 2021 (all-time record of 48 inches), Kennedy Chandler in 2022 (41.5 inches) and Julian Phillips in 2023 (43 inches).
At the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, point guard Jordan Bone posted the top overall result in four separate performance tests: no-step vertical leap (36 inches), lane agility drill (9.97), shuttle run (2.78) and three-quarter court sprint (3.03). In 2021, Johnson shattered the event’s all-time record in the max vertical jump with an unprecedented leap of 48-inches—surpassing the 20-year-old mark by 2.5 inches.
In 2024, Dalton Knecht, a consensus First Team All-American after reshaping his body under Medenwald’s tutelage, led all players at the combine in shuttle run (2.79) and placed second in lane agility (10.56). Most recently, in 2025, Third Team All-America honoree Chaz Lanier tied for third in standing vertical leap (33 inches), good for co-first among guards, plus placed fifth in lane agility (10.53) and co-seventh in max vertical leap (39 inches). See the chart below for more impressive combine testing/drills results.
“G is a very direct and consistent coach,” said VFL Admiral Schofield, who worked closely with Medenwald to dramatically reshape his physique before getting drafted No. 42 in 2019. “I loved getting a new challenge from him every day. His energy and passion are what motivated me when it was time to ‘get jacked.’”
Across Medenwald’s 10 years at Tennessee, the program has tallied three SEC titles and made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2018-25). The Volunteers have reached the Sweet 16 four times, including advancing to the Elite Eight in both 2024 and 2025.
Medenwald, who came to Tennessee at the start of Rick Barnes’ tenure in 2015-16, has helped the Volunteers win 25-plus games in six of the past eight years. That includes a program-record-tying 31 in 2018-19 during a season the Volunteers spent a month ranked No. 1 in the country and 30 in 2024-25 when the team had five weeks No. 1 nationally.
“Garrett’s methods and approach to elite performance training are on another level,” Barnes said. “He’s a star in his profession, and our students enjoy not just how he trains them, but also the personal relationship he develops with each of them.”
Medenwald, pictured here with his wife, Brittny, and their son, Case, has trained several world-class athletes, including NBA guard J.J. Redick and NFL quarterback Colt McCoy.
In the summer and fall of 2016, Medenwald played an instrumental role in the design and planning of a $98,000 renovation to the expanded, 4,350 square-foot Tennessee basketball performance training area in Pratt Pavilion. Additions included a full-court-length stretch of synthetic turf, a custom rubber floor, a 40-foot, steel-reinforced throwing wall, six Keiser Functional Trainers, four TRUEStretch Cages, three custom, 10-foot Power Lift pulley units (ideal for taller student-athletes), seven sets of 90-pound PowerBlocks and a zoned, high-powered stereo system.
In May of 2019, Medenwald was a featured speaker at the 12th annual High Performance Basketball Symposium in Las Vegas. His presentation was entitled The Strength in Culture: The Process of Building Your Environment.
The Green Bay, Wis., native arrived in Knoxville, Tenn., with three years of experience working alongside Barnes, as Medenwald served the Texas basketball program as both a graduate manager and a graduate strength and conditioning intern from 2012-15.
Medenwald worked with both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Texas, focusing in on-court development and sports performance. During his tenure with the Longhorns, Medenwald honed his philosophy as an elite performance coach while working closely with nationally known industry innovator Todd Wright—assistant coach/vice president of player performance with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers—and learning the philosophies of Shaun McPherson.
Medenwald simultaneously spent two years as the Director of Athletic 3D Performance Training Systems at the “Train 4 the Game” facility in Austin, Texas, where he programmed for numerous NFL and NBA athletes.
Medenwald graduated from Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2013, earning a bachelor’s degree in health, human performance and recreation while minoring in athletic coaching education. He then received his master’s degree in kinesiology from Texas in 2016.
He married the former Brittny Henderson of Burlington, Wis., in May 2016. They have a son, Case, and twin daughters, Cleo and Ari.
NBA DRAFT COMBINE RESULTS - MEDENWALD TRAINEES
| Year | Name, Pos | Combine Test/Drill - Result | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Chaz Lanier, G | Standing Vertical Leap – 36 inches | No. 3 among combine participants |
| Chaz Lanier, G | Lane Agility – 10.53 seconds | No. 5 among combine participants | |
| Chaz Lanier, G | Max Vertical Leap – 39 inches | No. 7 among combine participants | |
| 2024 | Dalton Knecht, G | Shuttle Run – 2.79 seconds | No. 1 among combine participants |
| Dalton Knecht, G | Lane Agility – 10.56 seconds | No. 2 among combine participants | |
| 2023 | Julian Phillips, G/F | Standing Vertical Leap – 36 inches | No. 1 among combine participants |
| Julian Phillips, G/F | Max Vertical Leap – 43 inches | No. 1 among combine participants | |
| 2022 | Kennedy Chandler, PG | Max Vertical Leap – 41.5 inches | No. 1 among combine participants |
| Kennedy Chandler, PG | Shuttle Run – 2.89 seconds | No. 2 among combine participants | |
| Kennedy Chandler, PG | Lane Agility – 10.73 seconds | No. 5 among combine participants | |
| Kennedy Chandler, PG | Standing Vertical Leap – 31 inches | No. 9 among combine participants | |
| 2021 | Keon Johnson, G | Max Vertical Leap – 48 inches | No. 1 among combine participants | All-Time Combine Record |
| Keon Johnson, G | Standing Vertical Leap – 41.5 inches | No. 1 among combine participants | |
| Keon Johnson, G | Three-Quarter Court Sprint – 3.00 seconds | No. 3 among combine participants | |
| 2021 | Yves Pons, F | Max Vertical Leap – 42.5 inches | No. 3 among combine participants |
| Yves Pons, F | Standing Vertical Leap – 36.0 inches | No. 3 among combine participants | |
| Yves Pons, F | Shuttle Run – 3.05 seconds | No. 8 among combine participants | |
| Yves Pons, F | Lane Agility – 10.89 seconds | No. 9 among combine participants | |
| 2021 | Jaden Springer, G | Standing Vertical Leap – 34.5 inches | No. 5 among combine participants |
| Jaden Springer, G | Max Vertical Leap – 41.5 inches | No. 6 among combine participants | |
| 2019 | Jordan Bone, PG | Standing Vertical Leap – 36 inches | No. 1 among combine participants |
| Jordan Bone, PG | Lane Agility – 9.97 seconds | No. 1 among combine participants | |
| Jordan Bone, PG | Shuttle Run – 2.78 seconds | No. 1 among combine participants | |
| Jordan Bone, PG | Max Vertical Leap – 42.5 inches | No. 2 among combine participants | |
| Jordan Bone, PG | Three-Quarter Court Sprint – 3.08 seconds | No. 4 among combine participants | |
| 2019 | Admiral Schofield, G/F | Max Bench Press – 15 reps | No. 4 among combine participants |
| Admiral Schofield, G/F | Shuttle Run – 10.77 seconds | No. 4 among combine participants | |
| 2019 | Grant Williams, F | Max Bench Press – 20 reps | No. 1 among combine participants |
