Tennessee already boasted a Top 5 transfer portal class entering the month of May, filling spots on the roster with talented offensive playmakers such as Terrence Hill Jr., Dai Dai Ames, and Jalen Haralson. But adding Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris at the beginning of the month only took things to another level.
Harris was one of the best scorers in college basketball last season. His 21.4 points per game ranked 16th in the nation, and his complete game numbers rivaled some of the top picks in this year’s NBA Draft class. While leading the ACC in total minutes played, Harris ended the season as a Second Team All-ACC selection.
Harris’ production during his breakout year with the Demon Deacons had him listed as the sixth-best transfer portal player in ESPN’s rankings.
“One of the nation’s elite scorers, Harris enjoyed a breakout season in Winston-Salem,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello writes. “He jumped from averaging 6.1 points as a freshman to averaging 21.4 as a sophomore, ranking in the top 20 nationally in that category. Harris had three performances of 30-plus points, including 38 points in 39 minutes against Boston College.”
Borzello projects that Harris will be the focal point of this rejuvenated Tennessee offense. The Vols worked hard to add more scoring and playmaking threats to the team this offseason, and the ESPN expert sees Harris as the best among the group.
“Harris will be the centerpiece of what appears to be arguably the most potent offensive team Rick Barnes has had in a long time,” Borzello writes. “The Volunteers went out and landed some of the most talented scorers in the portal to rectify their issues at that end of the floor last season, and Harris is the best of the group. A projected second-round NBA draft pick, he withdrew from the combine after committing.”
More From RTI: See Tennessee Basketball’s Complete Roster For The 2026-27 Season
Don’t expect this to be a one-man show, though, despite Harris being able to play in that role. While speaking with The RTI Low-Down earlier in the month, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes explained the Vols’ goals while building their unit.
“This year, we knew that we wanted more offense,” Barnes said. “We didn’t want to really rely on two or three guys… We wanted to be more lethal, and we set out knowing it.”
Out of the eight players that Tennessee has brought in from the portal, five (including Harris) averaged 15 points or more per game with their respective teams last year. That includes Terrence Hill’s 15.0 PPG at VCU, Dai Dai Ames’ 16.9 PPG at Cal, Tyler Lundblade’s 15.6 PPG at Belmont, and Jalen Haralson’s 16.2 PPG at Notre Dame.
The Vols made sure to go out and acquire different types of talented players this year. And as Barnes said in the aforementioned interview, guys who can go out there and create their own offense without having to be coached every possession.
“We felt like we needed to get some guys that, as it gets down to the end of the shot clock – what it really gets down to, we don’t want to coach these guys on every play,” Barnes said. “We don’t. We want some guys that can go create offense. Some guys that can break down defenses for you and get things done. We’ve never been a staff that wants to joystick the game. We like to teach basketball, we want to see flow on dead balls. You certainly have a chance to call guys numbers, those type things within the flow of the game.”
Tennessee’s going to have to figure out how to push the right buttons throughout the course of the season, but there’s no doubt that its strategy in the portal this offseason allowed the Vols to stock up on explosive offensive talent. We’ll see it in action at the Food City Center in just a handful of months.
Check out Tennessee Basketball’s full 2026-2027 roster here.
