Tennessee basketball prides itself on its culture that prioritizes putting the team first and winning over personal goals. That makes recruiting evaluation extremely important and also challenging in the transfer portal era.
That’s where senior guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack are exceptionally valuable for Tennessee basketball. They’re the keepers of the Vols’ culture and provide important insight when Tennessee hosts transfers and prep prospects on visits.
Tennessee has landed one transfer commit to date, Hofstra’s Darlinstone Dubar, after he officially visited the Vols last weekend.
What did Zeigler and Mashack make of Dubar after meeting him over the weekend?
“He’s a great guy, man,” Mashack said on Thursday. “From talking to him, he really does care about winning. Truly he cares about winning and he wants to come here to do that exact thing. … We care about anybody who wants to give their all for Tennessee and from talking to him that’s exactly what he wants to do. He’s excited to come here and get better.”
“He fits perfect,” Zeigler said. “I could tell as soon as he walked in the room. Actually I played in a school on Long Island (near) Hofstra and my cousins had went to go watch him play and told me (that) he would be really good for us and help us out. I know he’ll be a big addition for us this season.”
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Not Closing The Door On Tobe Awaka Returning
Mashack and Zeigler each talked about fit within the Vols program. Wanting to be inside the program and being all in was a big part of it. Mashack talked specifically about that as it pertains to players that decided to transfer out of the program.
Zeigler talked about being able to “brutally” joke with teammates because “if you can’t take that you definitely can’t take Coach Barnes.”
That upfront honesty and transparency is a key piece of making sure that Tennessee adds people that truly want to be in the program and do things the way the Vols do things. Tennessee got that feeling from Dubar.
“What we’re about, he’s about,” Barnes said of Dubar. “I just love hearing him talk about one, how excited he is to play defense with Jahmai (Mashack) and (Zakai Zeigler. Versatility, he has that. But he’s got the right mindset and he wants to get better. And we’re really excited … he saw what he wanted to do and he wanted to be a part of it. Special kid, very special kid. And you can tell he is a worker, got a lot of desire. He wants to be able to be really good.”
The super senior wing transfer averaged 17.8 points per game on 54% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from three point range last season. Stepping into a program that lost key wing starters Dalton Knecht and Josiah-Jordan James, Dubar is an important piece to Tennessee’s 2024-25 roster.
Tennessee currently has five scholarships to work with as it looks to fill out its roster for the 2024-25 season.
