Tennessee earns commitment from No. 1 rated transfer, Henry Ford
Tennessee baseball made a big splash in the transfer portal on Sunday, picking up a commitment from the top-rated player in the transfer portal as former Virginia first baseman and right fielder Henry Ford made his pledge known to Tony Vitello and the Tennessee staff.
The slugger was on campus the first week the portal officially opened for an official visit ahead of Tennessee’s super regional matchup at Arkansas. Tennessee beat out Mississippi State and Texas for Ford, who is playing in the Cape Cod League this summer.
Ford, who stands in at 6-foot-5 weighing 225 pounds, is draft eligible this summer. He’s currently listed as the No. 73 MLB Draft prosect by MLB Pipeline and No. 70 by Baseball America. He has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining but is a serious draft risk.
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor left his post to take on the head job at Mississippi State after the season. Ford, along with several of his fellow teammates, entered the NCAA transfer portal.
The Charlottesville, Va. Native, who attended high school in Chattanooga at Baylor School, broke onto the scene as a true freshman in 2024, landing on three Freshman All-American teams after hitting .336 at the plate with 17 home runs, 69 runs batted in and 13 doubles in 61 starts. The home runs and RBI tally were both freshman records for the program.
In 2025, Ford registered a .362 average with 11 home runs, 46 RBI, nine doubles and 42 runs scored across 50 games played. He primarily played first base as a freshman before shifting more towards the outfield as a sophomore. In total, Ford played in 74 games at first base and 34 games in the outfield while at Virginia in two seasons. Ford was named second-team All-ACC following the 2025 campaign as an outfielder.
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Baseball Transfer Portal
The 2025 non-graduate transfer portal opened on June 2 and will remain open until July 1. Players must have their name entered in the transfer portal by July 1 if they want to move on, but new destinations do not have to be made by that time.
The Vols have benefited greatly from the transfer portal in recent cycles, reeling in the likes of Chase Dollander (2022), Griffin Merritt (2023), Maui Ahuna (2023), Zane Denton (2023), Billy Amick (2024), Cannon Peebles (2024), AJ Causey (2024), Chris Stamos (2024), Liam Doyle (2025), Andrew Fischer (2025) and Gavin Kilen (2025).
Ford becomes the seventh addition for the Vols via the transfer portal, joining right-handed pitchers Clay Edmondson (UNC Asheville), Mason Estrada (MIT), Bo Rhudy (Kennesaw State), RHP Brady Frederick (ETSU), utility Garrett Wright (Bowling Green) and RHP/OF DJ Newman. Tennessee has also added junior college players such as RHP Matt Barr (SUNY Niagara) and Tyler Myatt (Walters State) and picked up catcher Trent Grindlinger as a late add to the 2025 class in recent weeks.
Tennessee has now lost 13 players to the transfer portal so far: INF Jack Jones, INF Robinson Martin, LHP Bryson Thacker, RHP Brayden Sharp, RHP Austin Hunley, RHP Thomas Crabtree, OF Colby Backus, LHP Ryler Smart, LHP Dylan Loy, LHP Andrew Behnke, RHP Austin Breedlove and RHP/OF Beau Revord.
