Tennessee basketball power forward Olivier Nkamhoua entered the transfer portal Thursday evening, VerbalCommits first reported on Twitter.
Nkamhoua spent four-years at Tennessee and is using his extra COVID-19 year of eligibility to transfer and play a fifth season. Fellow seniors Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James and Uros Plavsic all have a final year of eligibility but have not announced whether they plan to use it.
The Helsinki, Finland native started all 36 games for Tennessee this season, averaging 10.8 points and five rebounds per game for the Vols. After playing sparingly in each of his first two season at Tennessee, Nkamhoua broke onto the scene as a junior, averaging 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game before an injury ended his season in February.
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Nkamhoua’s potential was high and the power forward looked like a superstar at times. The 6-foot-9 forward scored 20-plus points five times this season including a pair of 27-point performances against Texas and again in the Round of 32 against Duke.
However, Nkamhoua struggled to sustain high level of play and consistently be a go-to interior scorer for the Vols. Nkamhoua scored six points or fewer seven times in his senior season including a six point performance on two-of-nine shooting from the field against Florida Atlantic in the Sweet 16.
Tennessee’s front court picture isn’t completely done yet as we’re still unsure of Plavsic future plans. Rising junior Jonas Aidoo and rising sophomore Tobe Awaka both will be in for major roles and incoming freshman JP Estrella could carve out a role for himself as well.
The Vols are still one scholarship over the limit as they await word on what the rest of their seniors will do next season. Julian Phillips is also a potential NBA Draft candidate as well.
Nkamhoua is the first scholarship Vol to enter the transfer portal this offseason.
