Tennessee basketball's portal run helps Vols jump 10 spots in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25

Tennessee basketball’s work in the NCAA Transfer Portal helped the Vols jump up 10 spots in ESPN’s updated way-too-early top 25 for the 2023-24 season. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello previously had Tennessee ranked 17th, but now come in at No. 7.

“Tennessee is certainly one of the biggest portal winners of the offseason thus far,” Borzello wrote, “landing Jordan Gainey (South Carolina Upstate), Chris Ledlum (Harvard) and Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado), while also getting all-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi back for another year.

“The Volunteers should have more perimeter pop than they’ve had the past few seasons, combined with what should be an elite defense when Zakai Zeigler is healthy.”

Knecht committed on April 21, giving Tennessee three commitments out of the portal, along with Vescovi announcing his return, over a span four days. 

Vols targeted offensive help in NCAA Transfer Portal

The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Knecht averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 35.3 minutes per game in 32 games at Northern Colorado last season, shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from the 3-point line.

Jordan Gainey, the son of Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey, averaged 14.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from the 3-point line over the last two seasons at USC Upstate.

Ledlum, the 6-foot-6 forward, averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in 31.5 minutes per game at Harvard last season, shooting 47.3 percent from the floor.

“I think there’s no doubt we need to improve our shooting,” Barnes said of his team last month. “Not only by recruiting it, which I think we have done that, but also with the guys that we have. I have great confidence that these guys are going to do that. I think we’ll be a more athletic team. And we’ll be a little bit different somewhat up front. We’ll still add there.”

Vescovi led Tennessee this season in both scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game, and minutes, playing 32.9 minutes per game. He shot 39.6 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from the 3-point line, going 91 of 246 from deep. He was fifth in rebounding, averaging 4.6 per game, was second in assists with 102 and led the team with 60 steals. 

“I think that Santi in some ways wanted to come back and we just wanted him to do it for all of the right reasons,” Barnes said after Vescovi announced his return. “And I think he wanted to do it for all the right reasons. But we’re all excited about it because he has proven himself here, been durable, done everything you can ask from a player since the time he walked on here.”

Tennessee’s Freddie Dilione, DJ Jefferson coming off redshirt seasons

Barnes will also add four-star guard Freddie Dilione and four-star wing DJ Jefferson to the rotation for the 2023-24 season after both sat out during redshirts years last season. 

Tennessee finished 190th in scoring offense this season, averaging just 70.8 points per game. The Vols shot 32.9 percent from the 3-point line this season, ranked 231st nationally according to KenPom.com. Tennessee was 64th in adjusted offensive efficiency for the season, scoring 111.3 points per 100 possessions. 

“What I told our guys,” Barnes said of the offensive woes, “we just need the guys to take the shots within our offense. And they’ve got to do that with confidence. That’s part of my job, to make sure they know that.”