Tennessee’s men’s basketball team is hot on the recruiting trail right now. The Vols picked up a commitment from four-star center/power forward D.J. Burns in the 2018 class on Friday, and national analysts believe UT is also trending for a pair of top-100 overall players in the 2019 class now as well.
Now, another top-100 overall player appears to be high on the Vols.
Greg Gantt, a four-star forward from Fayetteville, North Carolina, released his top nine schools on Monday afternoon, and the Vols made the cut along with Texas, Florida, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Providence.
Blessed & Highly Favored ??? #GBMS pic.twitter.com/LunlU7wVbT
— Greg Gantt Jr. (@juuune__) June 4, 2018
The Vols offered Gantt almost exactly a month ago, and both Georgia and Alabama offered him shortly after Tennessee. Along with the schools in his top nine, he also holds offers from Cincinnati, Virginia, N.C. State, Xavier, Virginia Tech, and many others.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Gantt is the No. 57 overall player and No. 15 small forward in the 2019 class. When Tennessee offered him, he was ranked as the No. 79 overall player, so his stock has jumped quite a bit over the last month.
At 6-foot-8, 195 pounds, you might assume Gantt is more of a typical post player who scores mostly on dunks and post moves. But that’s not the case at all; Gantt can play a multitude of positions on the court, and he has a pretty jumper. He’s not a sniper from three, but he’s more than capable of hitting outside shots, and that’s valuable in a player with his size. He’s not just a finesse forward, however; Gantt isn’t afraid to pound in the paint and battle for rebounds. He flies up and down the court and is actually a very good ball handler too. He’s also a solid defender and protects the paint very effectively.
As a junior this past season for Trinity Christian School, Gantt averaged 10.9 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game according to MaxPreps.
Gantt appears to be one of the more versatile players in the 2019 class, and the Vols could use someone with his athleticism and overall skill set in the future. He’s the type of player who can come in and make an immediate impact on any college roster across the country.
Most of the teams on Gantt’s list are teams who have offered him in the last three months. That likely means he has no front runners in his recruitment and is likely pretty open to any of the teams he included in that list.
The Vols currently only have one player committed in their 2019 class, and that’s three-star small forward Davonte Gaines from New York. Tennessee could have either three or four scholarships available in the 2019 cycle depending on if they use their final remaining scholarship in the 2018 cycle or not.
