2026 Transfer Portal Thread

[BreatheUT]

Foxwell/Tanner
Rice/Lundblade
Boswell
Phillips
Estrella
-
Henderson/Burg/Houston
Evans
Brown
Portal Big
-
Scott
Green
Clark
Peck
-
Walk On
Walk On

It's not bad if the players we have continue to steadily develop.

Tanner who? If you're talking about Vandy's player, then this is a pipe dream and any Vandy fan reading this board would lose their teeth laughing. Him and his parents have been lifelong Vandy fans. He actually didn't want to go anywhere else. It may be why he was lightly recruited. He was going to Vandy no matter the coach.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I would very much like to keep Estrella and would be very upset if he left.

 

[VolGee4]

Tanner who? If you're talking about Vandy's player, then this is a pipe dream and any Vandy fan reading this board would lose their teeth laughing. Him and his parents have been lifelong Vandy fans. He actually didn't want to go anywhere else. It may be why he was lightly recruited. He was going to Vandy no matter the coach.

This thread provides more insight, even from our resident insider.

 

[cncchris33]

Tanner who? If you're talking about Vandy's player, then this is a pipe dream and any Vandy fan reading this board would lose their teeth laughing. Him and his parents have been lifelong Vandy fans. He actually didn't want to go anywhere else. It may be why he was lightly recruited. He was going to Vandy no matter the coach.

I'll just say that you're opinion on the matter differs greatly from some that seem to be pretty clued in on his situation and recruitment.

They would tell you that Tanner wanted to come to UT but was never recruited, and that there is potential interest in making that marriage work after all if he were to enter the portal and forego the draft.

 

[Skooter]

Tyler’s parents have not been lifelong Vandy fans. His mom did her residency at Vandy which is their only connection with Vandy other than being 15 minutes away from his home. She an ER doc in Murph.
I met them many years ago as his sister tore her acl in HS before heading off to Georgia for a stellar track career. Good people of faith.
Honestly had no idea until recently it was the same Tanner.

 

[Namorto1]

JP is one of those players whose potential os worth the price tag. A high risk, high reward stock. If you get the fully healthy version of him with an assumed mild continuous improvement, he's easily worth seven figures. He's just never been able to stay healthy, so it really depends of your risk level in terms of investment. I think he is someone you pay to be your #3 or 4 scorer with the potential that he's your #1 or 2 if everything goes right.

Would be wise to keep Estrella just for continuity purposes with guys who have been in the program multiple years. Is he worth $1M, probably given how skilled he is, but you would think any other universities would be cautious about his health issues. I hope he stays. Would like us to expand his game offensively and put him into more pick and pop situations.

 

[allvolrecruiting]

Tyler’s parents have not been lifelong Vandy fans. His mom did her residency at Vandy which is their only connection with Vandy other than being 15 minutes away from his home. She an ER doc in Murph.
I met them many years ago as his sister tore her acl in HS before heading off to Georgia for a stellar track career. Good people of faith.
Honestly had no idea until recently it was the same Tanner.

yeah very good sports family. Both parents hooped at Rice

 

[swchandler1988]

I'll just say that you're opinion on the matter differs greatly from some that seem to be pretty clued in on his situation and recruitment.

They would tell you that Tanner wanted to come to UT but was never recruited, and that there is potential interest in making that marriage work after all if he were to enter the portal and forego the draft.

You saved me 2 minutes of typing

 

[Skooter]

yeah very good sports family. Both parents hooped at Rice

Tyler got his moms height lol. Dad about 5’9

 

[GSPVol]

Personally hope the kid goes pro.

I can just see this being one of those recruitments that goes to the last day and we miss on a ton of guys in the process waiting on a decision.

 

[GSPVol]

Wanna really get your hopes up? Somehow staff brings in Tanner and convinces Ament to return for one more season to get back to 100% and add more muscle.

 

[WaywardVol]

Tyler got his moms height lol. Dad about 5’9

So Gillespie and Tanner both ignored by this staff out of high school? Odd that they can find an over looked ZZ from New York, but can’t source em out of their own backyard.

 

[GSPVol]

Rice is coming off shoulder surgery, not an ACL. And no way he's coming in to be 6th Man for what he will cost, not to mention his talent. He's very likely your leading scorer.

Shoulders are sketchy. Rice and Phillips? Then there's Estrella. Know there's a sense of loyalty and optimism, but when I think of rolling into next season with a dependence on the health of those three....

 

[GSPVol]

His per 40 would suggest he’s 17/9 if given 30mpg, he’s played 27+mins 5x this season and guess what he averaged, 17/9. Everything suggests that if he can play 28-32mpg as you mention he’d be a double double guy, he’s 40% from 3, you open up that green light a bit and he damn well could be a 20/10 guy…yea, he would command a high dollar amount.

No argument here, but why do we expect him to be available to play 28-30 min per game? It's something he's never done at the college level to date. Seems like a very risky decision.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

No argument here, but why do we expect him to be available to play 28-30 min per game? It's something he's never done at the college level to date. Seems like a very risky decision.

I get that, risk/reward…part of that is foul trouble and Barnes needing to trust players a bit more with 2 fouls, part of that is injury, his minutes have obviously increased the back half of the year.

Again, risk/reward…if you went out and tried to add a proven HM player who averaged 17/9 and was 6’11”+ you’re talking about a $4-$5m price tag most likely, so if you can get him for around $2m then you’ve potentially got a steal.

 

[b_gann]

As I've stated in previous posts...he's the #1 offensive player in the SEC (4 and 5 positions) per Evan Miya and this was his first real season. Assuming he doesn't get injured...this will be his first offseason to train and prepare for next season...I would expect him to noticeably improve his strength, vertical and lateral quickness.

Edit: I think he's a walking double-double for a team that plays him ~30 mpg and actually posts him up more than 2 time a half.

Plus if he had the freedom to shoot the top of the key 3

 

[b_gann]

We all gotta hope they learned lessons last year. I don't see us getting Tanner. Let's take 2-3 kids that we know can help first and then see what happens.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

No argument here, but why do we expect him to be available to play 28-30 min per game? It's something he's never done at the college level to date. Seems like a very risky decision.

FWIW he’s averaged 25mpg the last 14 games of the years outside of the 1 he was limited due to injury, so he’s shown the back half of the season a guy that can be 25+mpg…I don’t think it’s crazy to think he could take another 3-5mpg step next season.

 

[RyanWalkerPGH]

Some transfer portal info on Basilio's blog this morning. A couple things I found interesting:

-Says Tennessee is looking for a starting PG preferably from a Power Conference, but noted they also have a few high mid major options up their sleeve.
-Mentioned a starting 2 guard and brought up Rodney Rice but indicated he's not sure if the shoulder injury will scare them away. Expects Maryland to try and lure him back and potentially overpay reading the tea leaves
-Expects Tennessee to fight Duke for Lundblade
-Thinks Boswell and/or Amari Evans could move on. Mentioned Evans has a huge offer already from a Big Ten school.
-Also want a versatile guard in addition to starting 2 guard to handled minutes that would come at a cheaper price
-Going to pursue a starting 4 hard and hunting in the high major ranks. Not happy with Carey (thank God)
-Sounds like he expects Estrella, Brown, and Cade Phillips to return. However, said Estrella is going to get a huge raise.
-Think Burg could be back to play some spot minutes as he's grown on defense
-Feels Tennessee has planned well and believes they have between $12-15 million to spend this cycle

 

[VolGee4]

Some transfer portal info on Basilio's blog this morning. A couple things I found interesting:

-Says Tennessee is looking for a starting PG preferably from a Power Conference, but noted they also have a few high mid major options up their sleeve.
-Mentioned a starting 2 guard and brought up Rodney Rice but indicated he's not sure if the shoulder injury will scare them away. Expects Maryland to try and lure him back and potentially overpay reading the tea leaves
-Expects Tennessee to fight Duke for Lundblade
-Thinks Boswell and/or Amari Evans could move on. Mentioned Evans has a huge offer already from a Big Ten school.
-Also want a versatile guard in addition to starting 2 guard to handled minutes that would come at a cheaper price
-Going to pursue a starting 4 hard and hunting in the high major ranks. Not happy with Carey (thank God)
-Sounds like he expects Estrella, Brown, and Cade Phillips to return. However, said Estrella is going to get a huge raise.
-Think Burg could be back to play some spot minutes as he's grown on defense
-Feels Tennessee has planned well and believes they have between $12-15 million to spend this cycle

Don’t like that on Amari Evans. Make him happy. Hopefully, he understands that Barnes will develop him to be a great defender, and I think he has a future as a D and 3 pro. Maybe more.

 

[TrippieRedd]

BIG school? Guessing Indiana since Rod is there.

I wonder if it’s gonna be one of the things where we keep Boswell OR Evans.


PLEASE GET 3 SCORERS.

 

[ndubvols]

Im content adding a starting pg and sg and a depth piece in the post, personally. Really feel like investing in Boswell/Evans to be the starting 3 and 6th man would be more beneficial than looking at 3+ portal guards. Keep at least one of burg/henderson and I think we’d be fine at backup pg.

Post players I think we’ll have a hard time luring here without guaranteed minutes and again think it’s worth investing in brown/cade/jp. Best case you get an athletic big that can defend, similar to okpara and develop offensively or a guy similar to milicic that can shoot.

Barnes’ success has been developing players he has and supplementing 1-2 key contributors from the portal. We have a young team that I think if you get to stick together the next couple years (easier said than done) we’ll be really good.

 

[omghulkhands]

Don’t like that on Amari Evans. Make him happy. Hopefully, he understands that Barnes will develop him to be a great defender, and I think he has a future as a D and 3 pro. Maybe more.

I think Evans could be very good. I really like him, Brown and Estrella as a core I want to keep together.

If BB also continues to improve it leaves us with only 1 really big hole and that is PG.

I’d like to find a scorer though.

 

[Volfan1017]

Some transfer portal info on Basilio's blog this morning. A couple things I found interesting:

-Says Tennessee is looking for a starting PG preferably from a Power Conference, but noted they also have a few high mid major options up their sleeve.
-Mentioned a starting 2 guard and brought up Rodney Rice but indicated he's not sure if the shoulder injury will scare them away. Expects Maryland to try and lure him back and potentially overpay reading the tea leaves
-Expects Tennessee to fight Duke for Lundblade
-Thinks Boswell and/or Amari Evans could move on. Mentioned Evans has a huge offer already from a Big Ten school.
-Also want a versatile guard in addition to starting 2 guard to handled minutes that would come at a cheaper price
-Going to pursue a starting 4 hard and hunting in the high major ranks. Not happy with Carey (thank God)
-Sounds like he expects Estrella, Brown, and Cade Phillips to return. However, said Estrella is going to get a huge raise.
-Think Burg could be back to play some spot minutes as he's grown on defense
-Feels Tennessee has planned well and believes they have between $12-15 million to spend this cycle

Dang I'd hate to lose Boswell or Evans. I really think those 2 embody TN basketball as good or better than anyone on the team.

 

[ndubvols]

I think Evans could be very good. I really like him, Brown and Estrella as a core I want to keep together.

If BB also continues to improve it leaves us with only 1 really big hole and that is PG.

I’d like to find a scorer though.

Agree, ideally you’d really like to keep those 4 and Brown together. If you bring in a pg and a scorer and can convince one of Boswell/evans to be a 6 man similar to Gainey then have brown be fist sub in at the post I think that’s a really strong team when you factor in development.