It’s going to be a busy few days for Tennessee basketball with three Volunteer players projected to be selected in the 2026 NBA Draft. But there’s also former Vols that will hear their name called.
The first came on Tuesday night when the New York Knicks selected Baylor wing Cam Carr with the 24th pick in the NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. In Los Angeles, Carr will be teammates with NBA legend LeBron James as well as his former Tennessee teammates Dalton Knecht.
Carr went in the first round after a breakout redshirt sophomore season at Baylor. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 18.9 points on 49.4% shooting from the field and 37.4% shooting from three-point range. He added 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game.
The Eden Prairie, Minnesota native spent the first year and a half of his college career at Tennessee. Carr flashed in a limited role as a freshman, averaging 1.6 points in 4.3 minutes per game while playing in 14 games. Most notably, Carr hit a late first half three-pointer in Tennessee’s Sweet 16 win over Creighton.
More From RTI: Every Tennessee NBA Draft Pick Under Rick Barnes (So Far)
Carr was poised for a bigger role during his sophomore season but averaged just 4.8 points before missing time with an injury after the first four games of the season. The lanky wing was in line to earn a role when he returned from injury but instead opted to leave the Tennessee program midseason.
Carr transferred to Baylor in the winter of 2025 and sat out the reminder of the season before turning in his breakout 2026 campaign where he earned Third Team All Big-12 honors. While Carr had an abundance of individual success, the Bears struggled as a team. Baylor posted just a 17-17 (6-12 Big 12) record and missed the NCAA Tournament.
The talented scorer exited the season as a fringe first round pick but moved up draft boards over the last few months, particularly following his standout performances at the NBA Draft combine.
Nate Ament was the first Vol off the board on Tuesday night with the Milwaukee Bucks selecting him with the 13th pick. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Felix Okpara and former Tennessee big man Tobe Awaka project to be second round picks.
