Tennessee basketball made a major splash in the transfer portal Friday. Star North Florida guard Chaz Lanier committed to Rick Barnes and the Vols over a top group that included BYU and Kentucky, as reported by Joe Tipton of On3 Sports. Lanier also posted the news to social media.
Home is where the heart is!! 🧡🙏🏽
— CHAZ LANIER (@Swaggychaz) May 24, 2024
One of the top players in the transfer portal, Lanier took a visit to BYU over the weekend before visiting Kentucky on Monday and Tennessee on Tuesday. After taking the three visits, Lanier committed to the Vols— filling a major void on their roster in the process.
Lanier was widely considered one of the best uncommitted prospects in the transfer portal before announcing his decision to transfer to Tennessee. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard ranks as a four-star and the No. 11 transfer in the country according to the 247sports transfer rankings and a four-star and the No. 9 transfer in the country according to the On3 transfer rankings.
EvanMiya.com’s rankings are lower on Lanier, tabbing him as a four-star recruit but just the No. 324 player in the portal.
Lanier is currently in the NBA Draft but is expected to remove his name from the draft before the May 29 deadline and to use his final year of college eligibility at Tennessee to bolster his draft stock.
A high level scorer, Lanier averaged 19.7 points to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in his senior season. Not only did Lanier nearly score 20 points per game, he was incredibly efficient doing so. The star shooting guard 51% from the field, 44% from three-point range (201 attempts) and 88% from the foul line during his senior season at North Florida.
According to Synergy, Lanier was the most efficient offensive player in the country last season totaling 1.20 points per possession used. Other top players on the list include Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves, Purdue’s Zach Edey, incoming Tennessee transfer Darlinstone Dubar and Alabama’s Mark Sears.
A Nashville native, Lanier played his high school basketball at the Ensworth School and has a good relationship with former Tennessee guards Josh and Jordan Bone.
Lanier fills a major role on Tennessee’s roster entering next season. The Vols had landed strong wings and big men in the portal but hadn’t yet landed a strong scoring guard that can help fill some of the offensive production that they’re losing with Dalton Knecht’s departure to the NBA.
The highly touted transfer is Tennessee’s fourth transfer commit of the cycle, joining Ohio State center Felix Okpara, Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar and Charlotte stretch forward Igor Milicic Jr. in the transfer portal to date.
Tennessee now has two scholarships to work with as it fills out its 2024-25 roster but they’re full on rotational level players and likely will not add anyone else with the expectation of playing a major role next season.
NEWS: North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier has committed to Tennessee, he tells @On3sports.
The 6-4 guard averaged 19.7 PPG this season. https://t.co/OnWHI5byEX pic.twitter.com/TYbOu3exaV
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 24, 2024
