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What Rick Barnes said about Tennessee signing Louisiana Tech transfer guard Amaree Abram

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•04/29/25•

GrantRamey

Amaree Abram, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics
Amaree Abram, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Basketball found what it was looking for in Louisiana Tech transfer guard Amaree Abram, who both committed to and signed with the Vols on Tuesday. 

“Our entire coaching staff is excited to welcome Amaree and his family to Rocky Top,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a press release announcing Abram’s signing. “We wanted to find a guard with collegiate experience and to get someone who has already performed well in the SEC is a bonus.”

Abram, who committed to the Tennessee coaching staff during his visit on Monday, averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists at Louisiana Tech last season. He shot 42.2% from the field, 37.3% from the 3-point line and averaged 32.1 minutes per game while starting all 32 games. 

Amaree Abram started his college career at Ole Miss

Abram started his collegiate career at Ole Miss, starting 22 times in 33 games during the 2022-23 season, averaging 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game with the Rebels. He played just 10 games at Georgia Tech in 2023-24, averaging 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

He was a four-star combo guard out of Humble, Texas, in the 2022 recruiting cycle. He was ranked No. 76 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking, was the No. 10 point guard in the class and the No. 13 overall player in California, where he attended Southern California Academy.

Barnes described Abram as the perfect fit for Tennessee on both ends of the floor.

“Amaree is a high-level athlete with quality defensive ability who can really shoot the ball from 3-point range,” he said. “He takes pride in guarding the opponent’s best offensive player, which is a mindset we love here at Tennessee.”

Tennessee has now added three players from the NCAA Transfer Portal, with Abram joining Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Carey.

The Vols have signed four prep prospects in its 2025 recruiting class in five-star Nate Ament, a consensus top-five player in the class, as well as four-star guard Amari Evans, four-star center Dewayne Brown and three-star point guard Troy Henderson.

Vols have two more open scholarships on 2025-26 roster

The 2025-26 roster still has two open scholarship spots after the addition of Abram, bringing the 2025 class to seven players.

Tennessee is scheduled to return four scholarship players (Felix Okpara, Cade Phillips, JP Estrella and Bishop Boswell) from last season’s roster, after losing six seniors (Zakai Zeigler, Jordan Gainey, Chaz Lanier, Jahmai Mashack, Igor Milicic Jr. and Darlinstone Dubar).

Gillespie takes over for Zeigler at point guard while Abram should get big minutes at shooting guard, helping replace the scoring lost in Gainey and Lanier and the perimeter defense lost with Mashack gone.

“Amaree is a mature young man with leadership skills who loves basketball,” Barnes said, “and we think he is a strong fit for our program.”

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