October is often thought of as a pivotal month for Tennessee’s football program, but it’s shaping up to be a huge month for the future of the Vols’ men’s basketball program, too.
Tennessee is set to host a number of high profile visitors in both the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes in basketball in the month of October, and another elite prospect added his name to the list of official visitors who will be on UT’s campus next month.
According to Evan Daniels of 247Sports, five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler will take an official visit to Tennessee on October 25th. He’ll be in Knoxville the same weekend as fellow five-star 2021 prospect Paolo Banchero.
Five-star guard Kennedy Chandler has scheduled an official visit to Tennessee for Oct. 25, per a source. Paolo Banchero will also be on campus that weekend.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) September 19, 2019
Chandler is the No. 16 overall player, No. 2 point guard, and No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The five-star plays for Briarcrest Christian in Memphis and is a huge target for both the Vols and the Memphis Tigers.
Right now, Tennessee is the only school Chandler has an official visit scheduled with. He’ll be taking unofficial visits to see Oklahoma (Sep. 28), Memphis (Oct. 3), Kansas (Oct. 4), and Louisville (Oct. 19) in the coming weeks, but the only official visit he has scheduled thus far is one to UT’s campus.
The 6-foot-1 point guard not only holds offers from the Vols and Tigers, but other teams such as Kansas, Oklahoma, LSU, Syracuse, Oregon, Michigan, and Texas Tech have all offered him as well.
Tennessee has had a strong relationship with Chandler for a while, and several UT coaches have gone over to Memphis to visit the five-star over the last week and a half since the dead period lifted. Tennessee visited him several times over the summer as well.
Though he’s just 6-foot-1 and only a junior heading into this season, Chandler is already a match-up problem for teams. He’s quick and can create his own shot at all three levels of the court. Chandler is capable of hitting threes but tends to use his quickness and play-making ability to drive to the hoop. Once there, he’s good at finishing, but he can also dish the ball back out and find open teammates. He has good vision and exceptional passing ability all over the court. He looks like an absolute star as a floor general. He still needs to work on his consistency as a three-point shooter, but everything else about his game is superb.
As a sophomore for Briarcrest Christian, Chandler averaged 19.5 points, four rebounds, 3.6 steals, and three assists per game according to MaxPreps. He was also voted TSSAA Division II Class AA Mr. Basketball this season.
During the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in April through July, Chandler played for the MOKAN Elite squad. In 19 total games during the EYBL, Chandler averaged 14.7 points, 5.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals a game while shooting 50.5 percent overall, 31.1 percent from three, and 72.9 percent from the free throw line according to D1Circuit.com.
In the month of October, Tennessee will be hosting a number of high profile recruits in men’s hoops. The Vols will host five-star guard Jaden Springer in the 2020 class on October 5th when the football team takes on Georgia. Five-star Vol commit Keon Johnson and four-star Vol commit Corey Walker will also be with Springer for that game. Four-star power forward PJ Hall in the 2020 class will also be officially visiting UT in October, coming to campus on the 18th.
As noted earlier, Chandler will be joined by five-star power forward Paolo Banchero during his visit on the 25th of October.
