Rick Barnes shares challenges of having players uncertain on NBA, Tennessee future

Like most college basketball programs during the month of April, the Tennessee hoops roster is in complete flux. The Volunteers are waiting on several NBA Draft decisions while also trying to land Transfer Portal targets and figure out which of their own guys will decide to transfer. Oh, and head coach Rick Barnes is still tasked with recruiting high school talent for the future. Coaches like him and every other power five program leader have scrambled eggs for brains this time of year with the non-stop roster management carousel.

At a recent press conference, Barnes explained the difficulties in aligning timelines for all his players and potential targets. He announced that two of his top guys are about to go through the process and eventually make draft decisions…all while Barnes has to be ready to recruit their possible replacements.

“You know, both Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips are going through the NBA process and that’s what they have to do. And it’s a process you have to go through. They’re certainly training for it and we want what’s best for them. Both these guys are transparent. We know that we’ve got to do what is right for our program, knowing that this time of year, with everything, it changes. Every day, something can change here or there, but the fact is it’s kind of a day-to-day ordeal that we go through this time of year.”

It’s just a tricky situation at the moment. The NBA is in full-throttle playoff mode and the teams involved are obviously focused there. Then, the deadline to make a decision isn’t until the end of May, when most portal guys will have wanted to make their decisions. So do you wait out your current guys or go ahead and recruit new ones? Furthermore, will top transfers commit amidst the uncertainty? It’s all a struggle, says Barnes, and without an easy fix.

“I don’t know if there’s a way to fix it, because the NBA’s right now in their playoffs and certainly these other guys are going to get ready for the draft when it happens. And that doesn’t always line up with the transfer portal and and recruiting this time of year. I don’t know what the solution is — because I don’t think you can force guys to ever come back when they’re trying to pursue their dreams of playing in the NBA.

“And so, we really have to play off that and, like I said, the NBA, I don’t think guys will know what they can do until they get through the end of May. And it’s just so different right now with where we are. But we all have to deal with it and you have to figure it out. That’s all it is. We have to figure it out.”

Rick Barnes is actually doing a decent job of figuring it out. He just got word that leading scorer Santiago Vescovi will be back for his super-senior season and also just landed Harvard’s Chris Ledlum in the portal, who averaged nearly 19 points a game last year and could be the Ivy League version of Grant Williams next winter. Still a lot left to be decided with the roster, but at least it has a couple of experienced pillars pledged to play already.