After making the Elite Eight last season, Tennessee saw several key players depart the program through graduation or the portal including Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Tobe Awaka, and Jonas Aidoo.
While Tennessee still returned a trio of senior guards and a few rising underclassmen, Rick Barnes and his staff needed to hit the portal to keep the Volunteers competitive in a continually impressive Southeastern Conference.
The Vols did just that. Tennessee brought in four players from the portal last season and has started three of them in nearly every game this season.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello recognized college basketball’s top transfer players with the regular season winding down on Thursday. Three Tennessee players made the cut.
Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier landed in Borzello’s 10-man “Best of the Best” category at the No. 4 slot.
“Nobody could have seen this coming after Lanier’s first three seasons at North Florida, where his career-high scoring average was 4.7 points. But he broke out last season for the Ospreys and has become Tennessee’s 2024-25 version of Dalton Knecht, coming out of the gates with huge stat lines in November and December,” Borzello wrote. “In fact, had we done this ranking near the turn of the year, Lanier might have been No. 1. He averaged 19.6 points on 45.9% 3-point shooting in nonconference, and while those numbers have taken a hit in SEC play, he’s still putting up 17.5 points for a team pushing for a 1-seed.”
Lanier leads Tennessee in scoring average (17.5 PPG) and three-point percentage (40.2%, among regular perimeter shooters).
More from RTI: Updating Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier’s Quest For Tennessee Basketball Program Records
While Lanier was Tennessee’s only representative in the Top 10, the tandem of Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic Jr. landed in the “Under-the-Radar Additions to Top 25 Teams” section, which is one section below “Best of the Rest.”
“Chaz Lanier has received most of the transfer plaudits — and understandably so. But Milicic Jr. has given Rick Barnes a much-needed inside-outside option in the frontcourt, shooting 41.3% from 3 in SEC play, while Okpara has been an anchor inside, ranking third in the league in blocks percentage,” Borzello wrote.
Okpara has turned into a productive big man in Tennessee’s system through conference play while Milicic Jr. has proven to be one of the Vols’ best potential scorers when he’s not dealing with inconsistencies. If Tennessee is going to make another big run in March, Okpara and Milicic are going to be two of the most important factors in that push.
Aside from Tennessee’s current SEC opponents that fans have seen this year, there’s one other name that will stand out to Vol fans.
Former Tennessee transfer and current Arizona forward Tobe Awaka was also put in the “Under-the-Radar” section.
“Tommy Lloyd needed to address toughness and defense on the interior after Oumar Ballo left, and a Tennessee transfer is a great starting point,” Borzello wrote. “Awaka has started 25 games for the Wildcats, averaging 8.1 points and 7.9 rebounds, shooting better than 61% from the field. He played the best basketball of his career over the past month.”
Awaka has recorded double-digit scoring totals in five out of the Wildcats’ last seven games.
After resting up during a midweek bye, No. 6 Tennessee will return to the court for a road matchup against No. 7 Texas A&M. The Vols recently earned a comeback victory over in-state rival Vanderbilt last weekend in Knoxville while the Aggies broke a five-game win streak with a loss at Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
Tennessee and Texas A&M will tip-off from Reed Arena at Noon ET on Saturday afternoon. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider on X for live coverage of the game.
Check out Jeff Borzello’s full college basketball transfer report here.
