Tennessee Basketball appears to be trending towards one of the top available players in the transfer portal. Head coach Rick Barnes and the Volunteers are targeting VCU guard Terrence Hill Jr., who recently visited Knoxville just a handful of days ago.
“It went great, man,” Hill told RTI’s Ryan Schumpert of his visit. “The city of Knoxville has a lot to offer, so coming down here and just seeing what they had to offer was a great experience. Having my family down here and having my guy with me, Connor, just to have that experience overall was a great experience.”
On Sunday morning, On3’s Pete Nakos logged a prediction for Tennessee to land the coveted transfer portal guard with a 70% confidence level. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine now has Tennessee with a 98.5% chance to land Hill, while Kansas is behind with a 1.5% chance.
On3 has Hill as a four-star portal prospect, the No. 24, and the No. 8 shooting guard in the portal. ESPN, meanwhile, has Hill tagged as the No. 21 overall portal prospect.
Hill entered the portal after putting his name on the map in a big way during a breakout season with VCU. He averaged 15.0 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game, while playing in 36 games. He shot the ball at 46.6% from the floor and 37.0% from three-point range.
Tennessee quickly showed its interest in Hill by getting him on a Zoom Call after he hit the portal. The Vols then got him on campus for a visit a short time later.
“Just to see what Rick Barnes had to offer for me and how much he believed in me,” Hill told RTI. “He said he watched a lot of tape on me throughout my games this season. He was really excited. He’s done really good with a lot of great point guards, so it feels very intriguing, for sure.”
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Tennessee has already put together a nice transfer portal class, but Hill would be the Vols’ highest-ranked transfer if he does wind up with the Vols. The Vols have four portal commitments so far, including SF Jalen Haralson (No. 40), SG Tyler Lundblade (No. 76), PF Miles Rubin (No. 94), and PG Dai Dai Ames (No. 103).
Tennessee’s transfer portal additions come after six outgoing players hit the portal following the Vols’ run to the Elite Eight this past season. Three of those players are going to SEC programs, including Amari Evans to Texas, Cade Phillips to Texas A&M, and Jaylen Carey to Missouri. Bishop Boswell is heading to Maryland, while J.P. Estrella is going to Michigan, the team that eliminated the Vols from the NCAA Tournament. Freshman guard Clarence Massamba has not made a commitment from the portal yet, while freshman guard Troy Henderson is returning to the Vols after originally declaring his intention to enter the portal.
Tennessee also has four incoming high school signees with four-star SF Chris Washington Jr., four-star SF Ralph Scott, four-star SF Manny Green, and three-star PG Marquis Clark.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for up-to-date information on Tennessee Basketball’s transfer portal activity.
