East Tennessee four-star power forward Trey Thompson reclassified into the 2025 recruiting cycle and committed to Iowa basketball Saturday, where he’ll soon join Ben McCollum’s program in Iowa City.
Tennessee was not recruiting Thompson as part of its 2025 class because there was little fit for the 6-foot-9 forward on next season’s roster. However, Thompson was one of Tennessee’s top targets in the 2026 recruiting cycle and was one of a few players who are definitive takes at this stage.
So what does Tennessee’s 2026 recruiting board look like with Thompson off the board? Taking a look now.
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This Will Be A Smaller Recruiting Class
It’s important to note that this will be a smaller recruiting class for Tennessee. The Vols signed five prospects who will be freshman on their 2025-26 team, giving Tennessee a young core to build around.
Tennessee will undoubtedly lose players after this season. They currently have four seniors on scholarship, counting former walk-on Grant Hurst who is now on scholarship after the House Settlement expanded scholarship limits to 15. Nate Ament is also a sure-fire one-and-done while other players will almost certainly transfer.
My rough projection is for Tennessee to add five to seven players on its roster heading into the 2026-27 season. But expect a heavy dose of portal additions.
Also worth tracking is how the revenue sharing affects dollar amounts. College basketball programs will likely have far less money to spend moving forward. It’ll be curious to see how programs work around that to maximize spending, but the relevant point here is that under the radar recruits who are willing to enroll for a scholarship and very little money are going to become all the more valuable as long term prospects.
Three Other Prospects Have Officially Visited Tennessee With Another Scheduled
Thompson was one of four prospects to visit Tennessee basketball in June along with three-star point guard Sam “Deuce” Simmons Jr (unofficial), four-star wing Gage Mayfield (official) and four-star guard Junior County (unofficial).
Simmons is an undersized under the radar prospect while Mayfield is a top 75 recruit and County is a top 50 recruit. The Vols are interested in all three but will also continue evaluating them during the upcoming July window as they narrow down their board.
Top 50 point guard Miles Sadler will officially visit Tennessee in late August and is for sure a take for the Vols. A 5-foot-10 point guard from Arizona, Sadler has a number of power five offers but the Vols are in hot pursuit of the blue-chip prospect.
There’s no obvious position of need for Tennessee in the 2026 recruiting class but point guard and wing are the two spots where the Vols will almost certainly add a player.
Some Other Big Names Tennessee Has Interest In
There are other big name prospects Tennessee has Interest in including five-star shooting guard Caleb Holt, five-star power forward Toni Bryant, five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr, four-star power forward Latrell Allmond and four-star wing Bo Ogden.
Tennessee hosted four-star wing Billy White III and Dakari Spear, the younger brother of former Lady Vol guard Jewel Spear, on unofficial visits last season. But the Vols continue to evaluate both prospects and don’t seem overly involved in either of those recruitments right now. We’ll see if they turn up the heat as the board solidifies after July.
Ogden is the son of Chris Ogden, who was on Rick Barnes’ inaugural staff at Tennessee and is now the GM as Texas. So that one will obviously be a very tough pull. The same is the case with the rest of those prospects. Until they schedule official visits with Tennessee, the Vols are not serious players.
I’m also skeptical that Tennessee will go all out financially to land a top line prep prospect in this class. With revenue sharing shrinking payrolls, expect Tennessee to be more aggressive going after big name transfers as opposed to prep prospects.
