Tennessee basketball announced the signing of Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Care on Tuesday morning, just two days after he committed to the Vols out of the transfer portal.
Carey was the fixture in 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.
Tennessee met with Carey over Zoom last Thursday and the power forward committed to the Vols’ staff afterwards over interest from Auburn, Texas, Missouri and Mississippi State. Carey publicly announced his commitment on Sunday night.
“We are pleased to welcome Jaylen, as well as his great family, to Vol Nation. He is a tremendous person and his distinct passion for the game will blend in nicely with the culture of Tennessee basketball,” Rick Barnes said in a statement. “Jaylen is a physical power forward with versatility who can play with his backet to basket or face up. He is a proven SEC competitor with excellent hands, superb offensive instincts, quality passing ability and a strong feel for the game. Jaylen’s style will complement the post players we already have and we cannot wait to get to work with him.”
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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 power forward 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.
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.
Carey is Tennessee basketball’s second addition in the transfer portal along with Maryland star point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The Vols now have a strong five-player front court with returners Felix Okpara, JP Estrella and Cade Phillips as well as incoming freshman DeWayne Brown.
The Vols currently have four scholarship spots to work with as they fill out their roster for next season. Tennessee’s biggest needs are at the two-spot and the three-spot. Tennessee needs shooting at both spots and ideally a wing that has the versatility to be a stretch four in certain lineups.
