Former Tennessee forward Chris Ledlum announces transfer destination
Chris Ledlum, the former Harvard and Tennessee power forward, has committed to St. John’s. Ledlum transferred from Harvard to Tennessee in April but left the Vols suddenly last week to re-enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The Staten Island, N.Y., native told head coach Rick Barnes last Wednesday morning that he wanted to get back closer to home and left Knoxville later that evening.
“It was surprising,” Tennessee’s associate head coach Justin Gainey said Tuesday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. “Something that caught us all off guard. Something that we weren’t expecting, obviously, coming off of the knee surgery that he was going through.”
Ledlum had meniscus surgery on July 9, sources told Volquest, and was expected to be out for a few weeks. He ended up transferring three days after the surgery was performed.
“It kind of caught us off guard a little bit,” Gainey said.
Chris Ledlum averaged 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds at Harvard last season
Ledlum committed to Tennessee in April, at the time picking the Vols over Indiana and St. John’s. Last season he averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in 28 games at Harvard. He averaged 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds during a breakout sophomore season in 2021-22.
He took visits to Indiana and Tennessee, in that order, and took his the last official visit of his recruitment in the spring at St. John’s, announcing a few days later that he had picked the Vols.
“Obviously he’s a great player,” Gainey said of Ledlum. “We wish him nothing but the best. I hope he finds what he is looking for, finds happiness. As far as it goes with us, it’s been our mentality ever since I’ve been here, since Coach (Barnes) has been here, next man up.”
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Ledlum started 27 times in 28 games as a junior, averaging 31.5 minutes per game. Ledlum scored in double-figures 26 times this season and had nine double-doubles. He had a season-high 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a win at Cornell in February. In 70 games over the last three seasons at Harvard, Ledlum averaged 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 assists in 24.8 minutes per game, making 41 starts.
He was two of three players Tennessee added out of the NCAA Transfer Portal in the spring, alongside USC Upstate guard Jordan Gainey and Northern Colorado wing Dalton Knecht.
Dalton Knecht averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds last season
Gainey, the 6-foot-4, 175-pound USC Upstate sophomore guard and son of Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey, averaged 15.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.7 minutes per game, shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from the 3-point line in 32 games.
As a freshman in 2021-22, Gainey shot 47.1 percent from the field and 49.3 percent from the 3-point line. He made 74 of 150 3-point attempts as a freshman and 70 of 203 as a sophomore. He was a two-time All-Big South pick at USC Upstate and was the Big South’s Freshman of the Year in 2021-22.
Knecht at Northern Colorado last season averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 35.3 minutes per game in 32 games this season, shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from the 3-point line.
