Tennessee basketball added to its vaunted transfer portal class on Sunday morning with the commitment of VCU point guard Terrence Hill Jr. After a standout sophomore year, he was highly recruited out of the portal by multiple teams looking to contend. However, he ultimately chose Rick Barnes’ program.
What exactly is UT getting in Hill, though? His most recent coach with the Rams, Phil Martelli Jr., was asked about the guard during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show this past March. He gave about the best compliment you could give to one of your guards, saying he makes him look like a better coach.
“We started the year off where he didn’t play much last year,” Martelli said. “He was a championship-level team. Played behind some really good guards. We saw it early, he had that it factor. And he started the year where he was shooting the ball at a blistering pace. From there, he gets labeled as a shooter, then all of a sudden, people are running him off the line and he’s finishing around the rim. And then it turns into, he’s a scorer. Then, he has a bunch of games where he has seven or eight, nine assists, and it’s like, oh yeah, this dude can really play.
“He’s a guy that at the end of the game, the ball is in his hands, he makes me look like I’m a lot better coach than I really am. Just put the ball in his hands and say, hey, go make a play. He makes a play, and somebody says whatever you ran at the end of the game looks pretty good, and I’m like, yeah, it’s because it was a good player with the ball in his hands making a good play.”
“He’s the guy at the end of the game, the ball is in his hands. He makes me look like I’m a lot better coach than I really am.”@pmjr10 on @VCU_Hoops guard Terrence Hill, Jr. pic.twitter.com/TxcLuLwev3
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) March 17, 2026
More From RTI: Where Tennessee Basketball’s First Five Transfer Commits Land In Portal Rankings
This past season, Hill posted 15.0 points per game on 46.6% shooting from the field and 37% from three. The 6-foot-3 guard also added 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in 36 appearances and two starts.
Now, Hill joins an already stacked transfer portal class for the Vols. So far, Tennessee has landed Belmont guard Tyler Lundblade, Cal guard Dai Dai Ames, Loyola (Chicago) forward Miles Rubin and Notre Dame wing Jalen Haralson, as well.
This, mixed with the return of guard Troy Henderson and forward Dewayne Brown II and a quartet of highly-touted incoming freshmen, reloads the roster for Barnes. He is coming off a third-straight Elite Eight appearance, but is still looking to lead Tennessee to the program’s first-ever Final Four.
