Former Tennessee basketball standout Chaz Lanier checked off a box in his professional basketball career Monday afternoon, hitting his first career game-winner with the Motor City Cruise. Playing for the Pistons’ G-League team, Lanier hit a runner to give the Cruise a 113-112 victory over the College Park Skyhawks at the buzzer.
Lanier caught a sideline out of bounds pass on the right wing, pump faked, drove and hit the contested game winner as time expired. Check out the shot here.
CHAZ LANIER BUZZER BEATER!! pic.twitter.com/dP2Xi3123j
— Motor City Cruise (@MotorCityCruise) December 22, 2025
Lanier did not have his best shooting performance against College Park, scoring just 11 points on one-of-six shooting from three-point range. But he made the biggest shot of the game while adding five rebounds and four assists without turning the ball over.
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The former Tennessee standout has spent most of his season on the Detroit Pistons active roster. Lanier has played in 13 NBA games, averaging 3.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game. He’s played in just four G-League games this year, averaging 22.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Detroit selected Lanier with the 37th pick in the NBA Draft last summer, the first of two Vols that went in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Lanier spent just one season at Tennessee after spending the first four years of his college tenure at North Florida. The Nashville native made quite an impact in his lone season in Knoxville, averaging 18 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Lanier earned First Team All-SEC honors, was the SEC Newcomer of the Year and became the first Tennessee player to win the Jerry West Award. He also broke Chris Lofton’s longstanding record as Tennessee’s single-season three-point champion.
