Tennessee basketball is hosting its second transfer of the offseason on a visit Friday as Cal combo guard Dai Dai Ames is currently on campus. It’s the first of four visits that Ames is taking in consecutive days as he weighs his options in the portal.
After wrapping up his visit with Tennessee, Ames will visit Xavier on Saturday, Ole Miss on Sunday and Kansas on Monday, Jon Rothstein reported Friday.
Ames and his parents arrived in Knoxville for the visit on Thursday night but they visit did not begin until Friday when the dead period was officially over. He isn’t scheduled to leave Knoxville until late Thursday afternoon.
Ames is coming off a strong junior season at Cal where he averaged 16.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and two steals per game. The 6-foot-2 guard was an efficient scorer, shooting 46.4% from the field, 37.6% from three-point range and 85% from the foul line.
The 6-foot-2 guard was the leading scorer on a Cal team that went 22-12 and made it to the NIT a season ago. His 25.2% usage rate was second on the Golden Bears behind Justin Pippen.
Ames started his career at Kansas State before transferring to Virginia as a sophomore and Cal as a junior. He averaged 5.7 points in his freshman season and 8.7 points in his sophomore season before his breakout junior season with Cal.
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The highly touted transfer guard has ties to Tennessee assistant coach Amorrow Morgan who recruited him to Cal last spring before moving on to Florida State and eventually Tennessee.
Ames ranks as a four-star and the No. 47 player in the transfer portal according to 247sports. On3 ranks him as a four-star and the No. 83 player in the transfer portal while EvanMiya ranks Ames as a four-star and the No. 152 player in the portal.
The Vols need to add multiple guards to their roster this offseason after losing Ja’Kobi Gillespie to graduation as well as Bishop Boswell and Amari Evans to the transfer portal. Gillespie and Boswell made up Tennessee’s starting backcourt while Evans played 14.4 minutes per game off the bench.
Six Tennessee players have entered the transfer portal this offseason with Clarence Massamba, Boswell and Evans big men Jaylen Carey, J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips.
Ames is visiting Tennessee the same weekend that Loyola (Chicago) center Miles Rubin does. The center arrives in Knoxville Friday evening before departing on Sunday morning.
