Vanderbilt transfer power forward Jaylen Carey committed to Tennessee basketball on Sunday, becoming the second transfer to join Rick Barnes and the Vols’ staff this offseason.
Carey was the fixture for the Commodores’ frontcourt in Mark Byington’s first season as head coach, helping lead Vanderbilt back to the NCAA Tournament by averaging eight points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The Davie, Florida native got better as the year went on, averaging 9.5 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Commodores in SEC play.
Carey ranks as a four-star transfer and the No. 71 player in the portal according to On3 and a four-star transfer and the No. 141 player in the portal according to EvanMiya.
The 6-foot-8 big man played center for Vanderbilt last season but will spend more time at power forward for Tennessee basketball. Rick Barnes and his staff had mostly been recruiting stretch power forwards who shoot the ball well from the perimeter so far this offseason.
Carey is not a stretch four, making just nine three-pointers last season at a 23% clip. What Carey lacks as a perimeter player, he more than makes up for with his ability to score inside and do all the dirty work on both ends of the court.
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In his sophomore season at Vanderbilt, Carey ranked in the top 100 nationally with a 12.5 offensive rebound rate and in the top 250 nationally with a 20.8 defensive rebound rate.
The big man played two of his best games last season against Tennessee. He totaled a 14-point, 10-rebound double-header in Vanderbilt’s win over Tennessee in Nashville and 17 points and seven rebounds in the Commodores loss in Knoxville.
Carey is a rising junior who has at least two years of eligibility remaining. If the NCAA passes a rule giving every college athlete five years of eligibility remaining, Carey would have three more years of eligibility remaining.
Carey is Tennessee basketball’s second commit in the transfer portal to this point in the season joining Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The Vols are returning their front court from last season with Felix Okpara, Cade Phillips and JP Estrella. How Carey will fit in with that frontcourt isn’t completely clear. But after being thin on bodies inside last season, Tennessee should have an abundance of depth in the middle next season.
The Vols now have four scholarships to work with for next season though the outcome of next week’s house settlement could expand the men’s basketball scholarship limit to 15, giving Tennessee two more scholarships to work with.
