Rick Barnes discusses arrival of transfer additions Chris Ledlum, Jordan Gainey

Summer workouts are well underway at Tennessee and their two transfer portal addition, Chris Ledlum and Jordan Gainey, are already making an impact on the team.

Head coach Rick Barnes praised the two for their work so far and how he thinks they will be able to fit into the system.

“Both of them understand how to play,” Barnes said. “Both of them have the ability to create their own shots. They both understand the game. Highly competitive. Highly competitive and have added to us. Both of them are still learning the system but in terms of what they’ve shown us from their work ethic, their attitude, their willingness to come right in and blend in with our team, our program has been great. But both of those guys are gonna add a lot to us.”

Ledlum arrives after four years at Harvard. This past season, the 6-foot-6 wing was named to the All-Ivy first team after averaging 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 31.5 minutes per game. However, he only shot 29.4% from beyond the 3-point line.

Gainey comes from USC Upstate after two seasons with the Spartans. He was named to the All-Big South first team this past season. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 15.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

It followed up a stellar freshman campaign when he won Big South Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big South second team. One aspect of his game that did drop off going from his freshman year to his sophomore year was his 3-point shooting. During the 2021-22 season, Gainey made 49.3% of his 4.7 attempts from beyond the arc per game. Last year, that dropped to 34.5% on 6.3 attempts per game.

One player Gainey and Ledlum haven’t been able to play with on the court is guard Zakai Zeigler. Zeigler tore his ACL in February and is still recovering from the injury. Barnes said Zeigler has been dying to get back on the court but they are making sure he takes his time.

“I think, if you asked him, he would tell you right now he wants to practice today. I mean, when we first started, we came out doing some simple passing drills, and he wanted to jump right in,” Barnes said. “And we have to keep holding back. I think if you talked to Chad and Garrett, they’d both tell you he’s ahead of where he wants to be. But we’re not going to let him come back until we know that he’s 100 percent ready, and that won’t be until late in the fall, probably.”