Tennessee Basketball landed their first transfer portal player on Monday afternoon with the addition of Hofstra guard Darlinstone “DStone” Dubar.
While Tennessee has lost four players to the portal this season and a handful of graduating seniors including Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James, and Santiago Vescovi, the addition of Dubar is a huge step in the right direction to rebuild Tennessee’s roster… Literally. The 6-foot-8 guard will immediately give Tennessee some length on the wing and is a player who isn’t afraid to use his height in the paint to fight for rebounds.
Dubar grew up in Charlotte, N.C., and played at both Rocky River High School (N.C.) and Athens Page (Tenn.) before playing at Scotland Campus Prep (Penn.) for his final high school season. Dubar was a three-star prospect in the class of 2020 according to 247 Sports and took his talents to Iowa State for his freshman season.
Dubar played in 16 games with seven starts for the Cyclones as a freshman and scored 37 total points that season, averaging 2.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in those contests.
With limited playing time as a freshman and an Iowa State coaching change taking place, Dubar decided to hit the portal in March 2021. Less than a month in the portal, Dubar emerged with Hofstra.
Dubar more than quadrupled his Iowa State game appearances during his first season at Hofstra, starting 31 of 32 games during the 2021-2022 season. Dubar didn’t necessarily come in as the team’s top scoring threat but showed off a very well-rounded game that year. Dubar had the third-highest scoring average on the team at 11.7 points per game.
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The 6-foot-9 guard continued his role in his second season with Hofstra, starting all 35 of the Pride’s games in 2022-2023. While Dubar’s season scoring average dropped 1.4 PPG from the previous season, he found a greatly improved three-point shot, bumping up his season percentage by 6.5 percent.
Dubar’s third season with the Pride was a breakout scoring year. Despite Dubar’s already proven scoring potential, the North Carolina native increased his output by more than 220 total points from his second to his third year in the program. Dubar’s increased scoring average bumped up from 10.3 PPG to 17.8 PPG thanks to a much higher volume in perimeter shooting.
Dubar took 112 three-point attempts in his first year at Hofstra and 104 in his second year. In his third year, though, Dubar took that up to 183 three-point attempts, knocking down 73 of them at 39.9 percent. Dubar’s total volume from the floor jumped from 282 shots in 22-23 to 414 shots in 23-24.
Dubar had big performances against some of Hofstra’s toughest opponents this season, going for 24 points and eight rebounds in a loss at Duke and 24 points and 11 rebounds in a win over South Florida. Dubas also tallied eight point-rebound double-doubles during his final season with the Pride.
Hofstra’s 2024 season came to a close with a loss to Stony Brook in the semifinal round of the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament with Dubar scoring five points on 2-of-6 shooting in the loss. Eleven days after the loss, Dubar was in the portal.
In three years at Hofstra, Dubar turned himself from a solid prospect lacking playing time at Iowa State to a highly-touted scoring prospect for Power 5 programs like Tennessee. Duban earned himself a four-star transfer prospect rating according to 247 Sports this offseason and is certainly a splash addition for Rick Barnes’ Tennessee squad.
Coming H🍊me pic.twitter.com/8fvOMaZaUm
— Darlinstone Dubar 🗿 (@DstoneDubar1) April 15, 2024
