2026 Vols Transfer Portal Thread

[Garren04]

Eh I think waiting on juke is the right play. It makes you clear cut contenders on paper and I don’t think there are other players sitting in the portal that make you that.

 

[GSPVol]

Eh I think waiting on juke is the right play. It makes you clear cut contenders on paper and I don’t think there are other players sitting in the portal that make you that.

I don't keep up with basketball portal entries, but I'd have to think any player(s) rivaling Juke have long since been snapped up by other programs. Looks like Barnes has pushed all his chips to the center of the table for Juke.

Depending on the timing, if that 5 year thing goes thru, I'd be interested to see what Barnes would do if Gillespie and Okpara were on the table, and we were still waiting on Juke. Definitely first world problems.

 

[All Vol!]

Eh I think waiting on juke is the right play. It makes you clear cut contenders on paper and I don’t think there are other players sitting in the portal that make you that.

Fair enough, but what happens if Juke withdraws from the draft on May 26 and commits to Michigan? Where does that leave us? There may not be a lot of great alternatives left in the portal now, but there will surely be even fewer then. Like I said Juke is certainly worth waiting for, but I wondered what some others think about the timeline.

 

[CamVol8]

Fair enough, but what happens if Juke withdraws from the draft on May 26 and commits to Michigan? Where does that leave us? There may not be a lot of great alternatives left in the portal now, but there will surely be even fewer then. Like I said Juke is certainly worth waiting for, but I wondered what some others think about the timeline.

Well it would leave us with 2 scholarships still available and a roster that’s solid/good but def not great or elite.

Also, like you said there won’t be much available for those last 2 spots so it’s beyond crucial that we can close with Juke

 

[TrippieRedd]

The only other player I’d even consider would be Paul McNeil but he isn’t even on the same planet.

 

[joevols89]

No thanks...rather overhyped kids that want to be in orange

Yes, that’s what we call wearing orange colored glasses.

 

[joevols89]

His brother in law telling me that he was torn between staying at Vandy, NBA or Tennessee. If Byington had gone to UNC he would have followed him. No imagination or opinions. I have a lot of those, but in this case these are the facts. You don’t have to believe me. Florida was also involved

I don’t believe his brother in law anymore then. If he wasn’t leaving Vandy for UT, no chance he’s leaving for UNC when that guy wasn’t even the one who gave him his shot at VU.

 

[Volpatine]

About the Trilly suggestion that MI has the advantage right now because he doubts Tennessee would wait on Harris, do you imagine that's valid at all from anything you've heard? If Juke went all the way to the draft withdrawal deadline a month from now (however unlikely that may be) before making a decision, do you imagine we're prepared to hold out that long? Obviously he's worth waiting on, but unless the staff knows something they're not disclosing, waiting too long comes with risks.

I think we were involved with Juke well before we even knew we were a 6 seed…we are in for the long haul.

 

[hard in the paint]

There is nothing to debate, lol. You were selling it hard and bashing posters who were kind of skeptical.

I don't think you had bad info or anything, but given that nothing concrete had happened there was no need to have the attitude. JMO.

The guy is just a massive douchebag in general.

 

[knoxvol52]

Tyler Tanner subject is water under the bridge, why are a few fans still harping on the subject?

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Fair enough, but what happens if Juke withdraws from the draft on May 26 and commits to Michigan? Where does that leave us? There may not be a lot of great alternatives left in the portal now, but there will surely be even fewer then. Like I said Juke is certainly worth waiting for, but I wondered what some others think about the timeline.

If that happens my guess is they look at any guys who also withdraw from the draft and return to school, hope for 5th year to pass, scour the portal, look overseas at options.

 

[All Vol!]

Tyler Tanner subject is water under the bridge, why are a few fans still harping on the subject?

Agreed, it’s starting to feel a bit Grudenesque. We should leave it alone before it inches closer to pathetic.

 

[All Vol!]

If that happens my guess is they look at any guys who also withdraw from the draft and return to school, hope for 5th year to pass, scour the portal, look overseas at options.

Yeah and that’s actually reassuring. There is potentially some fertile ground there if we need to explore it. Obviously we all hope it’s a moot discussion.

 

[landscapingvol]

His brother in law telling me that he was torn between staying at Vandy, NBA or Tennessee. If Byington had gone to UNC he would have followed him. No imagination or opinions. I have a lot of those, but in this case these are the facts. You don’t have to believe me. Florida was also involved

I don’t believe you

 

[GSPVol]

Tyler Tanner subject is water under the bridge, why are a few fans still harping on the subject?

Trying to overtake the Grudenites for the top obsessionist group on VN?

 

[walkenvol]

I think that different teams assigning different valuations is a lot more feasible than the staff miscalculating market value. Especially considering how fast we moved in the portal I don’t buy for a moment we didn’t have a good handle on the market.

Looks like we went shopping at the Dollar General for post players to match our budget then. The 2 new guys don’t come close to the 4 who left IMO. Maybe they wanted to emphasize perimeter players and go bargain shopping for post players.

 

[cwbytruckers]

I don’t have the energy for a long internet struggle, but staff view of JP was that he was strong at both ends but high reinjury risk. The defense of Freshman JP vs Edey should be strong evidence of his defensive upside— One datapoint only. After the injury he was often timid at both ends. He became a slappy defender and an arm rebounder, when he was not before. We got glimpses of what he might do, but his lower body physicality at both ends was too safe. He’ll go the way of his foot under another good coach.

if he could have done more defensively i think he would have been worth more money. the injuries would scare me some if i had to be the one writing the check. i wish him well and hope he gets better. im just more excited about the guys we are bringing in than the thought of what he would have brought coming back. my opinion isnt based on what the staff saw or what they thought he could bring next season. its just what i saw and i didnt like the fact that at the rim he never really stopped much. just prone to fouls. loved his rebounding. loved what he brought scoring. he just wasnt a presence defensively that made me say crap wish he would have been retained.

 

[cwbytruckers]

Looks like we went shopping at the Dollar General for post players to match our budget then. The 2 new guys don’t come close to the 4 who left IMO. Maybe they wanted to emphasize perimeter players and go bargain shopping for post players.

compare their stats to what we lost and tell me that they dont compare. you cant count okpara. he graduated. cade wasnt an offensive threat. carey could jump higher that my disabled mother. and JP struggled with short put backs around the rim. the two guys coming in are way more athletic and can block shots. i dont see how anyone cant see they are as good or better. but we all have our opinion and i respect yours. but give the new guys a chance before writing them off at least.

 

[Vols410]

Looks like we went shopping at the Dollar General for post players to match our budget then. The 2 new guys don’t come close to the 4 who left IMO. Maybe they wanted to emphasize perimeter players and go bargain shopping for post players.

The way I see it, if your perimeter is loaded with scorers that can shoot and slash to the rim it’s not worth spending $$$ on a guy that has to take up space in the lane to get his production in. That can hurt you more than it helps you.

 

[VolsNetClippers2025]

The way I see it, if your perimeter is loaded with scorers that can shoot and slash to the rim it’s not worth spending $$$ on a guy that has to take up space in the lane to get his production in. That can hurt you more than it helps you.

And if you look at the stats, both Rubin and Lue are quite good from close range + can grab rebounds. I think the staff zagging when everyone is trying to load up on the best bigs and spend a ton of money there is pretty cool/will pay off, but guess we won't know until we know!

 

[Delmar]

Tyler Tanner subject is water under the bridge, why are a few fans still harping on the subject?

I don’t believe it was ever a serious subject. I don’t even consider it a subject until the name appears in the transfer portal. Then you can talk about it. Until then it’s just rumor and conjecture. Pretty wild how people get all wound up over nothing.

 

[BallerVolFan]

I think we should stop talking about Tanner/Estrella and talk about the guys choosing (or pending to choose) to wear the orange. Tanner isn’t coming. Estrella is gone. So just let it be unless you just like to complain or argue with others. If we land Juke, you can’t really ask for much more unless you’re being greedy. Let’s all breathe and remember… we’re adults fretting over 20 year olds putting a ball through a circle.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

compare their stats to what we lost and tell me that they dont compare. you cant count okpara. he graduated. cade wasnt an offensive threat. carey could jump higher that my disabled mother. and JP struggled with short put backs around the rim. the two guys coming in are way more athletic and can block shots. i dont see how anyone cant see they are as good or better. but we all have our opinion and i respect yours. but give the new guys a chance before writing them off at least.

Factually false...NCAA Div I avg at the rim was 62% yet JP shot 65% playing in arguably the most physical conference. JP also finished as the 2nd best statistically in the SEC among all 4's and 5's based on his individual play per Evan Miya. I get it JP's gone and everybody (myself included) is hoping the new bigs can play well but let's try to temper the revisionist history just a tad.

 

[Vols410]

Factually false...NCAA Div I avg at the rim was 62% yet JP shot 65% playing in arguably the most physical conference. JP also finished as the 2nd best statistically in the SEC among all 4's and 5's based on his individual play per Evan Miya. I get it JP's gone and everybody (myself included) is hoping the new bigs can play well but let's try to temper the revisionist history just a tad.

EM had him in 12th in the SEC among 4s/5s. 5th offensively. 34th defensively.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

I don’t have the energy for a long internet struggle, but staff view of JP was that he was strong at both ends but high reinjury risk. The defense of Freshman JP vs Edey should be strong evidence of his defensive upside— One datapoint only. After the injury he was often timid at both ends. He became a slappy defender and an arm rebounder, when he was not before. We got glimpses of what he might do, but his lower body physicality at both ends was too safe. He’ll go the way of his foot under another good coach.

I also think guarding a big stiff like Edey is probably a favorable matchup for him (stylistically). Even early on, he never had the foot speed to stay in front of people on the perimeter.