Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers added one of, if not the top available transfer to their already stacked class yesterday. Wake Forest guard and Second Team All-ACC selection Juke Harris committed to the Vols over Michigan, North Carolina and others.
Harris was named the ACC's Most Improved Player last season, averaging 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He joins a backcourt that already includes Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU), Dai Dai Ames (Cal) and Tyler Lundblade (Belmont). Notre Dame transfer Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame) figures to slot in at the four, with Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago) rounding out a potential starting five that projects to be one of the best in the country.
Barnes' teams have always been known for their defense, but this group of transfers signals a pivot to the offensive side of the ball. Hill Jr., Ames, Harris, Haralson and Lundblade all averaged over 15 points per game last season. In an interview with Rocky Top Insider, Barnes said, "We didn’t want to really rely on two or three guys…We don’t want to coach these guys on every play - we want some guys that can go create offense."
Tennessee is looking to break through to the Final Four for the first time in school history with what could be Barnes' most talented roster yet.
Roster spending is always a hot topic this time of year. Without transparency in budgets and contracts, we're all left guessing on who is spending how much.
On The Field of 68 podcast yesterday, Texas head coach Sean Miller was asked how many teams he thought were spending north of $20M in the portal. Miller said, "Educated guess? Sometimes you don't have all the information... I would say 20-25." Check out the full clip below:
Last season Kentucky was widely considered the largest spender in the portal, with reports putting them at $22M. If Miller's guess is accurate, that means the rest of the country has caught up fairly quickly and Evan Miyakawa's study of market values is spot on.
Notable commitments: Aaron Bradshaw (Memphis) to Tennessee State | Quel'ron House (Southern Illinois) to Texas State | Cam Scott (South Carolina) to Temple | Kaden Magwood (Auburn) to Murray State | Yaak Yaak (Oregon State) to Oklahoma | Dorin Buca (Kansas State) to Rutgers |
New content at Basket Under Review
On a new episode of The Basket Under Review Podcast, Eamonn Brennan and Tate Frazier discuss tournament expansion, roster building and more.
The Basket Under Review crew is churning out instant analysis for every major commitment in the portal ($).
Upon Further Review
Brian Rauf
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