College Basketball Pundit Says Tennessee is ‘Onto Something Big’ in the Transfer Portal

Tennessee basketball is red-hot in the transfer portal. So far, Rick Barnes and the Vols have reeled in five signings, each ranking inside the top-100 available transfers on 247.

The common theme for this class is the offensive upside. Each addition averaged over 10 points per game last season, four averaged over 15 and both Dai Dai Ames and Jalen Haralson were over 16 points per game.

It’s this offensive push that college hoops pundit Ryan Hammer loves. He noted how Barnes usually goes after one offensive weapon in the portal, but this year, he’s added multiple options.

“Incredible portal class for the Vols,” Hammer wrote on X. “Rick tends to fixate on one offensive weapon (Knecht/Lanier/Gillespie) but having multiple weapons is something that I think will benefit them a ton. Add that to the usual physical defensive system… Vols onto something big”

The hope is that this, combined with Barnes’ focus on defense, will be enough to push Tennessee to the program’s first-ever Final Four and beyond. UT isn’t done in the portal, either. It’s still hard after Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris and a handful of other notable names that could make an immediate impact.

Incredible portal class for the Vols.

Rick tends to fixate on one offensive weapon (Knecht/Lanier/Gillespie) but having multiple weapons is something that I think will benefit them a ton.

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Add that to the usual physical defensive system… Vols onto something big

— Ryan Hammer🔨 (@ryanhammer09) April 19, 2026

More From RTI: Tennessee Signee Terrence Hill Makes Pitch For Juke Harris to Join Him on Rocky Top

Here’s an individual look at how each incoming player ranks on 247 as of April 19, 2026:

Transfers

Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU)

• 4-star
• No. 18 overall
• No. 5 PG

Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame)

• 4-star
• No. 24 overall
• No. 3 CG

Dai Dai Ames (Cal)

• 4-star
• No. 51 overall
• No. 12 PG

Tyler Lundblade (Belmont)

• 4-star
• No. 56 overall
• No. 6 SG

Miles Rubin (Loyola [Chicago])

• 4-star
• No. 90 overall
• No. 22 PF

Recruits

Chris Washington Jr. (Murfreesboro, TN)

• 4-star
• No. 49 nationally
• No. 19 SF
• No. 1 TN

Ralph Scott (Bradenton, FL)

• 4-star
• No. 54 nationally
• No. 23 SF
• No. 8 FL

Manny Green (Ellenwood, GA)

• 4-star
• No. 100 nationally
• No. 15 SF
• No. 4 GA

Marquis Clark (Chicago, IL)

• 3-star
• No. 212 nationally
• No. 28 PG
• No. 2 IL