Tennessee basketball picked up perhaps its biggest transfer portal commit to date on Sunday morning when VCU combo guard Terrence hill Jr. committed to the Vols over Kansas.
The Vols have now landed five players in the transfer portal as well as a commitment from prep wing Chris Washington Jr. What’s next for Tennessee as it builds its roster for next season? Taking a look here.
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How Many Scholarships Does Tennessee Have To Work With?
With five incoming transfers, four incoming freshman and two players from last season’s team announcing they are returning, Tennessee currently has four scholarships to work with as they fill out next season’s roster.
However, I do not expect Tennessee to use all 15 of its scholarships. The Vols adding two to three more players out of the portal and holding a spot for Nate Ament in case his draft stock falls seems to be the most likely course of action to me.
Nate Ament Will Likely Declare For The NBA Draft This Week
Nate Ament is the only Tennessee player from last season who has not announced his intentions for next season. The deadline to declare for the NBA Draft is this Friday, April 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET. I expect Ament to declare for the draft before then.
However, Ament can — and likely will — retain his college eligibility as he goes through the draft process which would give him until May 27 to officially decide whether he will stay in the draft or return to college for one more season.
Ament will remain the wildcard for Tennessee this offseason. Most top mock drafts project him to go late in the top 10 or early in the teens. If the feedback tells Ament that he’s a top 10 pick then he is gone. If Ament falls out of the lottery (top 14) then coming back would make a lot of sense. Late lottery feels like the middle ground though going pro still seems more likely in my eyes.
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Juke Harris Remains The Big Fish
Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris remains the biggest fish out there on Tennessee’s board. Harris averaged 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game as a sophomore and is one of the top players in the transfer portal.
Harris is down to Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee. He visited Michigan two weekends ago while both North Carolina and Tennessee have had in-home visits with him.
Tennessee has the longstanding relationship with Harris having finished runner-up in his recruitment out of high school and are very much in the thick of things the second time around. But the defending national champions and home state Tar Heels are stout competition. This one won’t be done until the ink is dry.
Harris is currently going through the NBA Draft process and does not seem to be in any hurry to make a decision. I’m sure all his top contenders would like to speed up the process. We’ll see if anything happens there this week.
Tennessee Is Looking To Add One More Rim Protector
Harris is the biggest fish left but the biggest positional need is on the inside where Tennessee needs to add another rim protecting big man to go along with Loyola (Chicago) transfer Miles Rubin and DeWayne Brown.
On3’s Pete Nakos mentioned Boston College big man Jayden Hastings as a Tennessee target last week. Hastings played for new Tennessee assistant coach Earl Grant last season at Boston College and averaged 6.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
Another name to watch is Texas Tech transfer center Luke Bamgboye who averaged 4.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 16.6 minutes per game while battling an injury as a sophomore. He also played with new Tennessee commit Terrence Hill Jr. at VCU as a freshman.
We’ll see if Tennessee schedules any visits with these two or any other big men this week.
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Could The Vols Add A More Traditional Stretch Four?
The only other roster spot where it makes sense for Tennessee to potentially add is at the four-spot. Both Notre Dame transfer Jalen Haralson and four-star prep signee Chris Washington Jr. are capable of playing there but are not traditional stretch four-men.
Tennessee could look to add a body there, most likely someone who is capable of stretch the floor and knocking down shots.
There have been murmurs and a few mentions of Tennessee hopping in the sweepstakes for Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman late last weekend after Alabama bowed out. I have been unable to confirm the Vols’ interest but he would fit that mold. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 16.5 points per game last season and shot 30% from three-point range.
Even if the Vols don’t go down that road with Freeman, they could still look to add a four-man to their roster.
