Chaz Lanier 'definitely thought about' committing to Kentucky -- now he's got to beat the Cats in the Sweet 16

Chaz Lanier took three official visits out of the transfer portal last cycle: BYU, Kentucky and Tennessee. Those were the dynamic scorer’s finalists with the Wildcats and Volunteers emerging as the favorites down the stretch for the North Florida transfer.

The opportunity to play for Mark Pope in Lexington was intriguing, but the native of Nashville saw Dalton Knecht’s success as the go-to star under Rick Barnes the year before and decided a return home to Tennessee was the right move for his final season of eligibility.

His decision would pay off, Lanier leading the Volunteers with 18.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest while shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 41.0 percent from three and 74.2 percent at the line. He broke the program’s single-season three-point record to support his status as SEC Newcomer of the Year.

The individual accolades have been everything he hoped for out of the portal, but to achieve the team success he wanted, he’s going to have to beat the runner-up in his recruitment. Do that, and Tennessee advances to a second consecutive Elite Eight after last reaching the regional final in 2010 under Bruce Pearl. He’ll have to do it after losing to Kentucky twice earlier in the regular season, Lanier himself combining for 8-27 shooting with an average of 12.5 PPG — far under his season production and efficiency.

How excited is he for this one?

“Oh, I mean, it speaks for itself,” Lanier said Friday. “We’re all excited. We’re gonna go out there and have fun. I can tell you that everybody’s ramped up for it. … We let one mistake lead to another (in the first matchups), we weren’t really being us the whole game. Really just honing in on the scouting report and being us for a full 40 minutes, I think we’ll be fine.”

How is he handling the personal dynamic of his own portal recruitment in a win-or-go-home matchup? Lanier had nothing but positive things to say about Kentucky as a program and Pope as a coach, but he is confident he’s wearing the right jersey color on Friday.

“The whole transfer portal situation, it was definitely chaotic,” he said. “Coach Pope is a great coach and Kentucky is a great program, but, I mean, Tennessee is home for me. The culture here is amazing. I love my teammates and I love the state of Tennessee.”

How close was he to suiting up in blue and white? He’ll be the first to admit he seriously considered the possibility — all kids grow up dreaming of playing for a blue blood like Kentucky.

At the end of the day, though, home is where his heart was.

“I mean, I definitely thought about it,” the Volunteer star said. “Growing up, all kids love Kentucky. Kentucky is the mecca of basketball, so definitely, there were some thoughts. But coming home, it’s been special to me. I’ve had a special experience on Rocky Top in Knoxville. The love is unreal and it’s just a blessing to be here.”

That certainly creates a unique feeling for him going into the Sweet 16, emotions running high in a clash of SEC foes. It doesn’t get any better than that, right?

“It’s special. It’s going to be a super big game,” he told KSR. “Like you said, SEC matchup. It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a really fun game.”