Nearby four-star basketball recruit Trey Thompson isn’t going to stay home and play for Tennessee basketball.
Instead, out of Greeneville, Tennessee, Thompson is reclassifying up to the 2025 class to join Iowa for the upcoming season. He chose the Big Ten school over the Vols, Purdue, Vanderbilt and others. He was the No. 59 overall recruit and No. 9 power forward in the 2026 class, according to 247, prior to his reclassification.
Along with those finalists, he held offers from the likes of Clemson, Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Stanford, UConn, Villanova and Virginia.
Thompson recently made the short trip to Knoxville to take a look at Rick Barnes’ Tennessee program for an official visit on June 7. Afterward, he spoke with Rocky Top Insider’s Ryan Schumpert.
“The biggest thing I took away was learning more about the coaching staff and players,” Thompson told RTI. “I had sit-down meals with them. I hung out with the guys and they told me stories about them. Messing around, Coach Barnes has a great personality. Also got to watch practices and them take their vitamins— which is a shooting drill they do every day. Definitely got to see the other side of basketball as well as them practice. How they act.”
It was initially Vols assistant coach Rod Clark on top of the recruitment, but things changed after Clark took a job at Indiana instead. Bryan Lentz took over as the primary recruiter and continued the hard push.
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If Thompson was set on reclassifying to play this upcoming season, a path to the court would have been tricky if he had picked the Vols. Tennessee returns senior Felix Okpara and third-year forwards JP Estrella and Cade Phillips. UT also brought in Jaylen Carey out of the transfer portal and freshman DeWayne Brown II.
What Barnes liked about Thompson was his similarities to the returning Phillips. He also thought he showed attributes of Igor Milicic Jr., a mobile and stretch forward from last year’s Elite Eight team.
“I watched film with Coach Barnes and they really see me as a Cade Phillips and Igor Milicic put in one,” Thompson said. “Good players there. Be able to have good size and rebound and pass really well, but also, the main factor, is to stretch the floor and shoot the ball a lot.”
Tennessee currently holds no commitments for the 2026 class. However, the Vols had a productive 2025 cycle. UT reeled in five-star forward and No. 4 overall recruit Nate Ament as the headliner to pair with four-star Amari Evans and three-star Brown. Tennessee also brings in Clarence Massamba, who has professional experience in France.
