Tennessee landed a commitment from one of the top scoring guards in the transfer portal on Friday with North Florida guard Chaz Lanier.
Rick Barnes and his staff won a battle against Kentucky and BYU for Lanier’s services. The 6-foot-4, 199-pound guard committed to Tennessee after visiting all three programs in the last week with the last stop being in Knoxville. Lanier also chose Tennessee over the NBA Draft.
Lanier wasn’t just an efficient player last season, he was the most efficient player in college basketball at 1.20 points per possession according to Synergy. Lanier averaged 19.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season for the Ospreys.
Lanier is a true do-it-all player from a scoring perspective, able to shoot from distance, drive it to the basket, and play in transition. As a senior last year, the Nashville native shot career highs in field goal percentage (51%), three-point percentage (44%), rebounds (4.8), assists (1.8), blocks (0.3), steals (0.9), and points (19.7) per game. Lanier only averaged 3.6 points per game across his first three years but exploded during his senior season.
The biggest reason behind Lanier’s scoring burst came from his willingness and ability to shoot the long ball. Lanier only shot 135 three-pointers in his first three seasons combined but then burst for 241 attempts during his senior season. All in all, Lanier took three and a half times more shots from the floor in his senior year than he did in his junior year. Lanier found his offensive game and was aggressive with it.
Chaz Lanier is Tennessee’s fourth and biggest transfer portal addition, joining Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar, Ohio State center Felix Okpara, and Charlotte’s Igor Milicic Jr.
More from RTI: Tennessee Lands Commitment From Highly-Touted Transfer Chaz Lanier
Check out some of Chaz Lanier’s impressive highlights from the 2023-2024 season below:
