Tennessee Basketball: Vols adds 7-1 ASU transfer center Uros Plavsic
Tennessee Basketball learned on Friday that 7-1 center Uros Plavsic would be transferring to them from Arizona State. This comes after junior forward Grant Williams announced he would be staying in the NBA Draft.
Uros Plavsic is a native of Serbia but played high school ball right down the road from Knoxville in Chattanooga. Plavsic committed to Arizona State as the No. 12 center in the country and was redshirted in his freshman season. Gaining a player like Plavsic is a huge pickup for Tennessee Basketball since they lost their top producers from last season to the draft and graduation. Plavsic isn’t a grad transfer so he will need a signed waiver to play next season for the Vols leaving Tennessee without knowing if he could contribute in 2019-20.
The Tennessee frontcourt is starting to shape up pretty well now with Plavsic joining John Fulkerson and D.J. Burns. It’s going to be tough to replace Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield for the 2019 season, but this could be a good start. Having a seven-foot player down low isn’t something Tennessee could lean on in the recent years, but now they could use that to their advantage during the upcoming season.
Plavsic has the size of a dominant center, but he can also move. A seven-foot-center that is agile isn’t a common thing seen in college basketball, but the Vols could see a lot of that next season. Bol Bol was a national sensation with his range this past season, and although Plavsic didn’t show off that range in his one season at Arizona State, he can also pull up from the three-point line. Plavsic will look to fill the hole senior center Kyle Alexander and forward Derrick Walker left the Vols.
Walker announced on Wednesday via Twitter that he would be heading to Nebraska to continue his college basketball career. Senior center Kyle Alexander graduated this spring to end his career at Tennessee, leaving them without a future at the center position. Tennessee is going to be looking for a new shot blocker and paint defender and standing at seven-foot-tall Plavsic could be a quick answer to that question.
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Plavsic could be a fun player to watch, and he’s nothing Tennessee fans have seen in a long time. Seven-footers don’t come around Knoxville too often so; hopefully, both Tennessee and Plavsic will make the most of this opportunity. Head coach Rick Barnes seems to be going after size after losing his best players as he also added 6-8 power forward Olivier Robinson-Nkamhoua to the 2019 class as well.