When Chaz Lanier picked Tennessee basketball out of the transfer portal, it was a return to his home state. The Nashville native starred at Ensworth in the mid-state in high school. This gave him a connection with a Lady Vols basketball player already on campus. Kaiya Wynn, also from Nashville, and her family became close with the Laniers growing up. Both made the move to Ensworth together, too.
Wynn grew up playing against Lanier and other boys at Enplay, a youth basketball team, at practices. After starting their college careers apart, the families were reunited this past year, with Lanier making his way to Knoxville as a transfer and Wynn sticking through the coaching change to Kim Caldwell.
After a record-breaking year with the Vols, Lanier was drafted by the Detroit Pistons. Now that he’s in the NBA, he’s given some gear back to the Wynn family.
“It was crazy. Chaz used to be shorter than me. I’m always going to stand on that hill,” Wynn said. “He’s a really hard worker and I’m glad Vol Nation embraced him, I knew that they would going in. It was just really awesome to see him grow and Coach Barnes push him to be a better basketball player. We always knew he was gonna have the talent to get drafted, but now that he’s there, it’s surreal. He sent us a bunch of gear. He sent my family and I a bunch of gear the other day. He’s really down to earth. He doesn’t forget his roots. I hope I can catch a game. I don’t think I’ve ever been to an NBA game. It’ll be cool to go out there and watch him play on the next level.”
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Lanier averaged 18 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists with 43.1% shooting in 38 games with the Vols and helped lead Tennessee to the Elite Eight in Indianapolis. He recorded 123 made three-pointers in those 38 games, which set Tennessee’s all-time single-season three-point record. He broke Chris Lofton’s 17-year record of 118 made three-pointers from the 2007-2008 season.
“My previous year at Tennessee really helped me get ready for the next level in a numerous amount of ways, especially on defense,” Lanier said. “And on the offensive side, being able to play faster and just do everything a step faster.”
Wynn missed this past season with an Achilles injury but has worked her way back to being a full participant at practices. She earned a medical redshirt, which makes this her redshirt senior season and last at Tennessee.
