Timeline: How Tennessee basketball's roster has changed over the last month

It’s been a frantic five weeks for Tennessee Basketball, which saw four players leave through the NCAA Transfer Portal while three players transferred to the Vols. Three open scholarship spots remain as Rick Barnes and his staff continue to look for more talent to add to the 2024-25 roster.

April 4: Freddie Dilione becomes the first Tennessee player to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, a few days removed from the season ending with the Elite Eight loss to Purdue in the Midwest Region final. The redshirt freshman guard and former four-star shooting guard in the 2022 recruiting class was never able to earn a spot in the rotation last season. He enrolled at Tennessee in January 2023, sitting out as a redshirt for the second half of last season, but rarely saw the floor during his redshirt freshman season. Dilione committed to Penn State on April 24.

April 8: Redshirt freshman wing DJ Jefferson becomes the second Tennessee player to enter the portal. He was another four-star prospect in the 2022 class that could never play his way onto the floor at Tennessee. His only appearance last season was in the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech. Jefferson committed to Longwood on April 24.

April 9: The first real surprise of the portal season was Tobe Awaka entering. The sophomore power forward had continued to progress as a sophomore last season, averaging 5.1 points, 4.6 rebound and 0.6 blocks in 12.9 minutes per game, coming off the bench in 33 games. He averaged 3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game as a freshman. Awaka committed to Arizona on April 29.

April 11: Two days later, Tennessee had lost both of its big men with junior center Jonas Aidoo also entering the portal. He was Tennessee’s most improved player this season, earning Second Team All-SEC and All-Defensive teams honors after starting every game and averaging 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 24.9 minutes. Aidoo committed to Arkansas on April 29.

April 15: Eleven days after the portal exodus began, Tennessee got its first addition out of the portal with the commitment of Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar. The junior wing, who started his career at Iowa State, averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game in 33 games last season, shooting 53.9% from the floor and 39.9% from the 3-point line. He also averaged 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 34.6 minutes per game. 

April 25: Tennessee answered a big question in the post with the commitment of Ohio State center Felix Okpara. The 6-foot-11 big man averaged 6.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks for the Buckeyes last season and averaged 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over the last two years at Ohio State. He started 34 times in 35 games a sophomore last season, averaging 23.5 minutes per game. Okpara shot 58.6% from the field in his 70 games with the Buckeyes.

April 29: The third addition, and to date the latest, came from Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound junior averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds last season with the 49ers, shooting 48.7% from the field and 37.6% from the 3-point line.

May 29: Until further notice, the next date to know in the continued Tennessee offseason roster overhaul is still two and a half weeks away. May 29 is the deadline for college players to withdraw their names from the NBA Draft. For Tennessee, all eyes are on North Florida guard Chaz Lanier, who is at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago this weekend as he continues to go through the NBA Draft process.

Tennessee and Kentucky seem to be the two most notable teams battling for Lanier, the guard who had a breakout senior season at North Florida. The 6-foot-4, 199-pound Nashville native who starred at North Florida last season, averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game, shooting 51.0% from the field and 44.0% from the 3-point line.