2025 Target List

#827
#827
Commits:
#83 Dewayne Brown-COMMITTED
#101 Amari Evans-COMMITTED


Priority Targets:
#3 Nate Ament-OV SCHEDULED 10/19
#6 Caleb Wilson-OV SCHEDULED 10/11 & UOV
#12 Brayden Burries-OV SCHEDULED 10/19
#48 Chance Mallory- OV SCHEDULED & UOV


Other offers:
#7 Meleek Thomas
#9 Koa Peat
#15 Mikel Brown Jr.
#39 Shon Abaev- OV TAKEN
#139 Deondrea Lindsey
#146 Jaylen Cross-UOV
NR BJ Davis-Ray
NR Aleks Alston-UOV
NR JR Leonard-UOV
NR Shane Cherry


#5 Chris Cenac-OV TAKEN 9/14
#24 Darius Adams-OV TAKEN 9/13 & UOV
#50 JJ Mandaquit-OV SCHEDULED 11/16
#63 Samis Calderon- OV TAKEN 10/26
#92 Isaiah Denis-OV SCHEDULED 10/11 & UOV
#108 Dante Allen-OV TAKEN 8/23
#135 Josiah Sanders-OV SCHEDULED 10/11

#11 Tounde Yessoufou
#13 Kingston Flemings
#28 Trey McKinney
#30 Kiyan Anthony
#33 Eric Reibe
#34 Nikolas Khamenia
#43 John Clark
#51 Kai Rogers
#59 Jerry Easter
#62 Matt Gilhool
#63 Cam Ward
#69 Christian Jeffrey
#72 Sebastian Williams-Adams
#73 Nyk Lewis
#85 A’mare Bynum
#88 Amari Allen-UOV
#102 Zymicah Wilkins
#106 Gevonte Ware
#114 Keyshuan Tillery
#143 Nicholas Randall
NR Adrien Stevens
NR Simon Walker-UOV
NR Silas Barksdale
NR Jackson Keith-UOV
NR Jermaine O’Neal Jr.-UOV
 
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#831
#831
On the recruiting front Tennessee lost out on five-star Chris Cenac who chose Houston on Tuesday.

Tennessee made a strong push for the nation’s No. 7 overall player, but lost out to the Cougars in the end. Heading into November many thought that LSU was going to be the school to beat here. And while it doesn’t do the Vols any good, our understanding is that in the end it came down to Tennessee and Houston.

The Vols are still in the mix for five-star Caleb Wilsonthough that one seems to be trending elsewhere.

Tennessee is playing the long game with five-star Nate Ament. The No. 4 ranked player in the 2025 class has always maintained that he was signing late. He and his family made an official visit to Knoxville in October.

The Vols will work to get Ament back for an unofficial visit in-season.

Tennessee is working to get five-star wing Brayden Burries on campus for an official visit but have yet to nail down a date.
Click to expand...
-VQ
 
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#833
#833
bleedingTNorange said:
Mallory, Burries & Ament would be the main ones right now, they’ll continue to evaluate spring guys and international as well
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I know Mallory is a Charlottesville kid, but I can’t imagine wanting to play in that slow offense at UVA instead of being handed the keys at Tennessee immediately as a freshman.
 
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#837
#837
Forgot to mention this last week but Trilly had this to say about Ament:

“Someone told me Tennessee is also a team to watch with Ament the other day. Apparently his people like Barnes a lot.”

Most people have been assuming he’s a Duke lock but hopefully we can make that one interesting. The Tennessee insiders in that discord have said Ament is one of the couple guys Barnes is actually willing to spend big money on because he rates him so highly.
 
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#841
#841
I’m all for adding those guys being mentioned, but how quickly fans forget how “disappointed” they were with JJJ, Springer, Johnson, Phillips, BHH etc. The 5 stars Tennessee has landed under Barnes have rarely met fan expectations, couple that with seeing how hard it is to win with youth in todays game and I’m a bit (not really) surprised at the fans still star gazing.
 
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#842
#842
bleedingTNorange said:
I’m all for adding those guys being mentioned, but how quickly fans forget how “disappointed” they were with JJJ, Springer, Johnson, Phillips, BHH etc. The 5 stars Tennessee has landed under Barnes have rarely met fan expectations, couple that with seeing how hard it is to win with youth in todays game and I’m a bit (not really) surprised at the fans still star gazing.
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To be fair Ament has NBA star level potential and would be the highest rated player we have ever had.

BHH was a huge disappointment, but was a borderline 5 star.

Phillips was somewhat of a disappointment, but still averaged 8 ppg. He was not a top 5 player like Ament though. He was 19th.

Anyone that thought Springer, Chandler, and/or Johnson were disappointments didn't know ball. Chandler and Springer led their team in scoring and Keon was 2nd right behind Springer.
 
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#843
#843
Stoked said:
To be fair Ament has NBA star level potential and would be the highest rated player we have ever had.

BHH was a huge disappointment, but was a borderline 5 star.

Phillips was somewhat of a disappointment, but still averaged 8 ppg. He was not a top 5 player like Ament though. He was 19th.

Anyone that thought Springer, Chandler, and/or Johnson were disappointments didn't know ball. Chandler and Springer led their team in scoring and Keon was 2nd right behind Springer.
Click to expand...
I’m with you, but those teams didn’t become what many thought they would, mainly because those freshman didn’t produce as many also predicted. Next years team right now returns: Boswell, Carr, Phillips, Estrella & Okpara…so once again it likely looks as though newcomers are going to have to be a major part of the teams success, especially at guard and wing, do we want to rely on that to be freshman?

Again I’m in no way downplaying those talents, as you said Ament is in that tier you do expect big things from those guys, but I’ve voiced my opinion many times, for the same amount of money often times I would prefer proven portal players (Lanier/Knecht) over hoping that a 5 star is ready to produce big time day 1.

I think if you can land Burries and Ament that’s big time, but I still think you’ll have to hit the portal for 2-3 immediate contributors as well to field a mature team which we’ve seen is key to success.
 
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#844
#844
bleedingTNorange said:
I’m with you, but those teams didn’t become what many thought they would, mainly because those freshman didn’t produce as many also predicted. Next years team right now returns: Boswell, Carr, Phillips, Estrella & Okpara…so once again it likely looks as though newcomers are going to have to be a major part of the teams success, especially at guard and wing, do we want to rely on that to be freshman?

Again I’m in no way downplaying those talents, as you said Ament is in that tier you do expect big things from those guys, but I’ve voiced my opinion many times, for the same amount of money often times I would prefer proven portal players (Lanier/Knecht) over hoping that a 5 star is ready to produce big time day 1.

I think if you can land Burries and Ament that’s big time, but I still think you’ll have to hit the portal for 2-3 immediate contributors as well to field a mature team which we’ve seen is key to success.
Click to expand...
Ohh for sure we'll need to rely heavily on the portal either way if we land Ament and/or Burries. I still don't think we land Burries though. I feel like he'll stay out on the West Coast.

I feel like next year will be somewhat of a down year compared to last year and this year with as much as we're losing. In order to stay a top 25 team. I'd love to see a class of...

1-2 one and done freshman (Ament & Burries)
2-3 freshman that will likely stay 4 years (Evans, Brown, & ? maybe Mallory)
Then fill the remaining spots with the best players that we can get in the portal.

Transfer
Carr
Ament
Phillips
Okpara
 
#845
#845
bleedingTNorange said:
I’m with you, but those teams didn’t become what many thought they would, mainly because those freshman didn’t produce as many also predicted. Next years team right now returns: Boswell, Carr, Phillips, Estrella & Okpara…so once again it likely looks as though newcomers are going to have to be a major part of the teams success, especially at guard and wing, do we want to rely on that to be freshman?

Again I’m in no way downplaying those talents, as you said Ament is in that tier you do expect big things from those guys, but I’ve voiced my opinion many times, for the same amount of money often times I would prefer proven portal players (Lanier/Knecht) over hoping that a 5 star is ready to produce big time day 1.

I think if you can land Burries and Ament that’s big time, but I still think you’ll have to hit the portal for 2-3 immediate contributors as well to field a mature team which we’ve seen is key to success.
Click to expand...
This makes a lot more sense if you feel you likely only have the player in either scenario for one year.

Last year, for example, would I have rather had 22-year old Knecht with 3 years of college strength and conditioning and experience, or 18-year old Justin Edwards (top-3 player who signed with UK)?

Edwards gets the most attention because he's the shiny new toy, but Knecht was the better player and affected his team's outcome much more.

Now, they won't all be Dalton Knecht, but not all 5* freshmen are Justin Edwards, either. It's a calculated risk each offseason.
 
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#846
#846
bleedingTNorange said:
I’m with you, but those teams didn’t become what many thought they would, mainly because those freshman didn’t produce as many also predicted. Next years team right now returns: Boswell, Carr, Phillips, Estrella & Okpara…so once again it likely looks as though newcomers are going to have to be a major part of the teams success, especially at guard and wing, do we want to rely on that to be freshman?

Again I’m in no way downplaying those talents, as you said Ament is in that tier you do expect big things from those guys, but I’ve voiced my opinion many times, for the same amount of money often times I would prefer proven portal players (Lanier/Knecht) over hoping that a 5 star is ready to produce big time day 1.

I think if you can land Burries and Ament that’s big time, but I still think you’ll have to hit the portal for 2-3 immediate contributors as well to field a mature team which we’ve seen is key to success.
Click to expand...
Biggest thing for next year is need mature leaders. Felix will be the only senior I think and Car/Cade/JP aren't same maturity as say ZZ as a starting point guard as junior.
 
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#847
#847
Stoked said:
Ohh for sure we'll need to rely heavily on the portal either way if we land Ament and/or Burries. I still don't think we land Burries though. I feel like he'll stay out on the West Coast.

I feel like next year will be somewhat of a down year compared to last year and this year with as much as we're losing. In order to stay a top 25 team. I'd love to see a class of...

1-2 one and done freshman (Ament & Burries)
2-3 freshman that will likely stay 4 years (Evans, Brown, & ? maybe Mallory)
Then fill the remaining spots with the best players that we can get in the portal.

Transfer
Carr
Ament
Phillips
Okpara
Click to expand...
Yea, I agree with the concept of 4-5 freshman in this class and then adding 2-3 from the portal.

As for next years team, I agree right now it looks questionable, but so many were also questioning this years team amid all the departures and here we are with the best and most balanced team Barnes has ever put on the court at Tennessee. Fully aware there’s a long way to go, but not sure we’ve been KP Top 2 under Barnes with a Top 10 offense and defense.
 
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#848
#848
cncchris33 said:
This makes a lot more sense if you feel you likely only have the player in either scenario for one year.

Last year, for example, would I have rather had 22-year old Knecht with 3 years of college strength and conditioning and experience, or 18-year old Justin Edwards (top-3 player who signed with UK)?

Edwards gets the most attention because he's the shiny new toy, but Knecht was the better player and affected his team's outcome much more.

Now, they won't all be Dalton Knecht, but not all 5* freshmen are Justin Edwards, either. It's a calculated risk each offseason.
Click to expand...
That is true.

In the offseason I wonder how many people would have chosen Lanier over lets say VJ Edgecombe?

It's an interesting discussion for sure... transfers are now mostly more valuable than the 5 star freshman. The exception would be the top of the class guys like Flagg, Ace Bailey, and Dylan Harper. I'd rather have those 3 over Lanier, but would probably rather have Lanier over Edgecombe on this years team.
 
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