2. Tennessee Volunteers
Rick Barnes is among the oldest college basketball coaches in the country but don’t confuse experience with stubbornness. Barnes has long since embraced the transfer portal and it’s led to great success for the Volunteers in recent years, fresh off a third straight trip to the Elite Eight. The portal has given Tennessee recent stars like Dalton Knecht and Ja’Kobi Gillespie and they just might have their next in this talented group.
The biggest standout might be Juke Harris, the former Wake Forest wing who averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds and was among the highest-rated transfers on the market. Another big addition from the ACC is Jalen Haralson, who averaged 16.2 points a game at Notre Dame and boosts the frontcourt. Don’t forget about another big gain in Terrence Hill from VCU, fresh off a sophomore season where he really put the Rams on his back at times.
You’ll find those three highly rated on transfer lists but that’s far from the end. Tyler Lundblade enters from Belmont after ridiculous production at Belmont while Braedan Lue is hoping to make a splash after great work as an underclassman at Kennesaw State. Dai Dai Ames lands here after averaging 16.9 points a game at California while fellow Chicago native Miles Rubin is a 6-10 big from Loyola Chicago who adds great size to the frontcourt. Christian Fermin, a former teammate of Hill’s at VCU, is another new big.
The Volunteers entered this offseason needing to replace a lot of outgoing talent. Barnes and his coaching staff are ever evolving and really nailed this task, grabbing one of the best scorers in Harris with hopes that he can become the next Knecht. They gained size, raw talent, and the pieces that many believe put them right back there as an SEC contender once again. Could this be the year that Tennessee finally reaches the Final Four?
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