The Tennessee basketball program has two players in the transfer portal on Friday morning, as Corey Walker has entered his name. His time at Tennessee was brief, after not seeing the court during his first year in Knoxville.
The 6-foot-8 freshman forward was absent all season, never hitting the court for Rick Barnes. Corey Walker was the first commitment for Tennessee’s star-studded class of 2020, with Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer.
Rick Barnes discussed Walker during the season, pointing out the fact that the freshman missed a lot of time leading up to the season, which transitioned into him missing out on playing time during the regular season. Once you miss that much time and have to play catch-up, it hurt his chances of seeing the court with his other classmates.
This was the second player to enter the portal on Friday, as E.J. Anosike has decided to enter the transfer portal, he told 247Sports recruiting analyst Travis Branham. Anosike decided to transfer to Tennessee from Sacred Heart last year, hoping he would get playing time in the post for the Vols. Things never seem to materialize for the 6’7, 245 pound forward, after seeing early playing time for Rick Barnes.
Also on Friday, Yves Pons officially said goodbye to Vol Nation on Instagram, “I’ll always cherish my four great years at Tennessee and I’m proud to be a Vol For Life.”
So, Rick Barnes and his staff have numerous spots to fill and I expect them to continue scouring the transfer portal for post players, as they recently received a commitment from SG Justin Powell.
This might seem like somewhat of an exodus, but Barnes has a plan and he’s hoping to take advantage of the incoming and returning players for the 2021-2022 season.
