Four-star wing Bo Ogden officially visited Tennessee basketball over the weekend as Vol football faced UAB at Neyland Stadium. It was a homecoming of sorts for Ogden who lived in Knoxville for three years from the time he was 7-10. Ogden still has friends in the area and came back to visit them over the summer.
“I can back over the summer to visit because I used to live here,” Ogden told RTI Sunday. “Have some connections and had to see some friends. I was here about a month ago over the summer. Playing some golf with my buddies.”
Ogden not only has familiarity with Knoxville but with Tennessee basketball as a whole. Visiting Tennessee was not an overly new experience for him but it helped him further gain comfortability with the Vols’ program.
“I just really like the coaching staff,” Ogden said. “It feels like a family. It was a really good time. I really enjoyed it.”
Ogden has known Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes for nearly his entire life. His father, Chris Ogden, played for Barnes at Texas and then was an assistant coach under Barnes at both Texas and then for a year at Tennessee. That gives Bo Ogden a unique perspective and viewpoint of Tennessee’s veteran head coach.
“Coach Barnes feels like my grandfather in a way,” Ogden said. “We’re really close.”
The 6-foot-5 wing noted that he feels comfortable with Tennessee’s entire staff but is particularly close with his lead recruiter Steve McClain. McClain worked with Chris Ogden at Texas and was the Longhorns’ lead recruiter on Bo before coming to Tennessee earlier this offseason.
“Coach McClain, I’ve known him for a while,” Ogden said. “I knew him really well. He was recruiting me at Texas and came over to Tennessee and started recruiting me there. I really like Coach McClain and the rest of the staff. Coach Lentz, Coach Gainey. I love all those guys.”
Ogden is one of the top recruits in the 2026 recruiting cycle, ranking as a four-star recruit and the No. 36 player in the 2026 recruiting cycle according to the 247sports composite rankings.
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While there’s plenty of connections between Ogden and Tennessee, many in the recruiting world view Ogden as a near lock to Texas. Chris Ogden is currently the Texas basketball general manager, a position he held under head coaches Chris Beard, Rodney Terry and now Sean Miller.
However, Bo Ogden insists that him going to Texas is not a foregone conclusion and that his father has empowered him to make his own decision.
“It’s tough. It’s tough. A lot of people just think that (I’m going to go to Texas),” Ogden said. “But I’m going to make my decision. Like my dad said, I can make my decision with what I feel like is best for me. I would never just go there because my dad’s there or anything like that. It’s tough when people think that.”
Bo Ogden doesn’t feel pressure from his dad to go to Texas but admits that it’s a unique spot to be in.
“I don’t know if it’s pressure,” Ogden said. “I definitely have a tough situation with my dad being there. It’s a hard situation, but it’s been good.”
One way or another, the blue-chip recruit is nearing a decision. Ogden tells RTI that he will no longer visit Virginia next week as he originally planned and will officially visit Texas instead. He then hopes to make a decision “as soon as possible” after the Texas visit before signing in November.
Ogden officially visited Purdue back in February and has a top six that includes Gonzaga, Kansas, Purdue, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia. But this one feels like it’s down to Tennessee and Texas with the amount of familiarity at the two schools.
