Tennessee basketball’s Chris Ledlum re-entered the transfer portal Thursday morning after committing to the Vols back in April and arriving in Knoxville in May.
Ledlum averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for Harvard in his junior season before originally entering the transfer portal and committing to Tennessee over Indiana and St. Johns.
So what does Ledlum re-entering the transfer portal mean for Tennessee basketball? Let’s take a look.
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Tennessee Now Has An Open Scholarship … But Probably Not For Long
Chris Ledlum entering the transfer portal gives the Vols a scholarship available for the 2023-24 season.
With Josiah-Jordan James reportedly planning to be a walk on after deciding to return for his super senior season, the veteran wing is the obvious candidate to earn Ledlum’s scholarship.
James returning for another season could have played a part in Ledlum’s decision to leave Knoxville (more on that below). When Ledlum transferred to Tennessee in April it appeared unlikely that James would return for another season. Instead James came back for another season and the Vols also landed transfer wing Dalton Knecht.
Those decisions seriously muddied the waters for what Ledlum’s role would look like in his senior season at Tennessee.
If Tennessee doesn’t put James on scholarship they could pursue another player in the transfer portal or target a prep prospect that could arrive on campus in August— potentially a reclassifying player like Zakai Zeigler two years ago and Tobe Awaka last year.
The Vols most dire need on the roster is point guard. Zeigler is the only true point guard on Tennessee’s roster and is rehabbing his left knee after tearing his ACL in early March.
Still, Tennessee putting James on scholarship is the most likely outcome.
Tennessee Not Short On Wing Depth
If a Tennessee player was going to transfer this July, wing is the spot the Vols would have most preferred. Tennessee had insane depth at the spot before Ledlum transferred and it would have been fascinating to see how Rick Barnes handled his rotation.
Knecht is a 6-foot-6 shooting wing from Northern Colorado who has impressed Barnes with his “gym rat” nature and shooting prowess this summer.
What Ledlum brought Tennessee that Knecht doesn’t is his ability to play power forward and hold up physically on defense and on the glass. James returning for his super senior season seriously mitigates that strength. The left handed shooter has played that exact role at a high level for Tennessee the last four years.
Tennessee has strong depth at shooting guard too with junior Jahmai Mashack having an easy ability to slide to the three-spot. Mashack even played minutes at the four a season ago.
While Tennessee isn’t as deep at power forward, Tobe Awaka’s dominant summer for Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Cup gives confidence that he’s poised for a bigger role this season. Awaka’s potential second year surge combined with James’ return lessened Ledlum’s projected role entering the fall.
Ledlum Sidelined This Summer With Injury
Ledlum didn’t participate in Tennessee’s Tuesday practice open to the media due to an undisclosed injury, a Tennessee spokesperson confirmed. However, Barnes talked highly of Ledlum as well as USC Upstate transfer Jordan Gainey.
“Both of them understand how to play,” Barnes said of the duo. “Both of them have the ability to create their own shots. They both understand the game. They both, again, highly competitive. Highly competitive and have added to us and both of them are still learning the system. In terms of what they’ve shown us from their work ethic, their attitude, their willingness to come right in and blend in with our team and program has been great. Both of those guys are going to add a lot to us.”
The seriousness of Ledlum’s injury is unclear, but Volquest.com’s Grant Ramey reported that Tennessee planned on holding Ledlum out of its three exhibition games in Italy next month.
The Brooklyn native will spend the ensuing weeks getting healthy while deciding on a new transfer destination for his final collegiate season.
One Response
Mashack is not a shooting guard from what he’s shown. I like his play and hustle, but a shooter he is not.