Tennessee Basketball has been quite aggressive in the portal over the last few weeks. After seeing six players depart the program in search of a new school, the Vols went out and found some high-end talent to bring to Rocky Top as it constructs its next roster. As Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said last week, the Vols chose production over retention during their roster building.
“We were looking for production over retention, and I think we’ve done that,” Barnes said. “But these guys are, they’ll build their own team. You got to do it every year anyway. It doesn’t matter if you got guys coming back, a bunch of guys, you still have to build a new team every year.”
Tennessee went into the portal with the goal of bringing in offensive firepower. The Vols have six commitments so far, with five of those players being ranked in 247Sports’ Top 100 transfer portal prospects: Terrence Hill (No. 19), Jalen Haralson (No. 25), Dai Dai Ames (No. 53), Tyler Lundblade (No. 59), and Miles Rubin (No. 95).
While speaking with The RTI Low-Down podcast on Sunday night, Barnes explained how the current NBA landscape inspired the Vols’ portal interests. Rather than finding players to fill five positions on the court, Tennessee narrowed that down to three positions with ball guard, wings, and the front line.
Here’s a look at what Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said during Sunday’s episode:
“We wanted to be more lethal, and we set out knowing it.”
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes explains UT’s offensive mentality in the transfer portal and how the NBA impacted the Vols’ portal scouting ⬇️ #TheRTILowDown @TheHoundBB @CLowFB pic.twitter.com/diXIhS0tDS
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) May 4, 2026
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