Chaz Lanier was Tennessee basketball’s biggest target in the transfer portal last offseason and marked a major win for Rick Barnes and his staff in the transfer portal when he chose the Vols over Kentucky and BYU.
The North Florida transfer has hit the ground running in his first eight games at Tennessee. Lanier is averaging 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the undefeated Vols. His success at Tennessee is no surprise to his North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll.
“This dude, all he did was work and the way he worked he was relentless in his work,” Driscoll said. “But he worked on basics. And if you watch him play, he does nothing fancy. He does everything within what they do. Here’s a guy that 17 points as a freshman, 5 points per game as a sophomore and a junior. Then all of a sudden he’s the most efficient player in college basketball.”
In his senior season at North Florida, Lanier totaled 19.7 points on 44% shooting from three-point range. He was widely viewed as the best shooter in the transfer portal last offseason and he’s continued to play and shoot at a high level at a higher level.
Tennessee has played four power five opponents to this point in the season. Lanier is averaging 24 points per game on a scorching 53% shooting from three-point range. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard made a statement to the college basketball world when he hit five three-pointers in the first five minutes of Tennessee’s 77-62 win over Baylor.
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“He made more shots against Baylor in the first half from three, seven, then he ever made in one game for us,” Driscoll said. “My point is, he’s an elite shooter. He made 26 three pointers in a row at the NBA combine. 26 in a row.
“For him to do what he’s doing, we’ve seen him. We’ve seen him do it against high level, high majors. When I went to watch him workout against all the pros he was working out against in his agency, he was torching them jokers. When he got to the NBA G League combine, he was torching them jokers. When he got to Tennessee he realized the speed, the length, the athleticism and he’s torching those jokers.”
Lanier is a super senior who went through the NBA draft process this summer after a breakout senior season at North Florida. 247sports ranked Lanier as the No. 10 player in the transfer portal and Tennessee won a challenging recruiting battle against Kentucky for his services.
The Nashville native is now the leading scorer on a Tennessee team poised to ascend to the No. 1 in the AP Top 25 next week and has proved he can excel against top competition early in time in Knoxville.
“He could have been a two-way, maybe a second rounder. But he made more money going back to school. So he made the right decision. Chaz deserves everything he’s getting.”
Lanier has also been a great fit inside of Tennessee’s program. He’s accepting of Rick Barnes’ challenging culture and matches the culture that Tennessee’s players work hard to create.
“Though I come from Coach Drew’s tree, I’m from Coach Barnes family,” Driscoll said. “He’s the first guy that ever gave me an opportunity. The fact that I coached him as hard as I coached him and he allowed me to coach him hard. He wasn’t a Pre-Modanna. He wasn’t selfish. He allowed me to coach him hard and he wanted to be coached hard. Because he wants to be uberly great. Like these guys want to be. Coach Barnes coaches him the same way and that’s why I think the transition has been so great for him.”
Lanier and Tennessee are back in action on Tuesday night when they face Miami in New York City as part as the Jimmy V Classic. Tipoff between the Vols and Hurricanes is at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
