What's next for Tennessee Basketball after the Elite Eight loss to Houston

INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee Basketball’s season ended in the Elite Eight Sunday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium in the 69-50 loss to Houston in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region final. 

It was the final game for Zakai Ziegler and Jahmai Mashack in Tennessee uniforms, along with four other seniors, and is the start of what will be a massive roster overhaul during the offseason.

Tennessee is set to lose seniors in Zeigler, Mashack, Jordan Gainey and Igor Milicic Jr., along with fifth-year seniors in Chaz Lanier and Darlinstone Dubar.

On top of the six departing seniors, Tennessee entered the season with two open scholarships, giving the Vols more than half the roster to fill in the coming weeks and months.

Tennessee has signed two players in its 2025 recruiting class, four-star guard Amari Evans and four-star center Dewayne Brown, and has a commitment from Virginia point guard Troy Henderson.

Tennessee already targeting two NCAA Transfer Portal prospects

Two early names to watch in the NCAA Transfer Portal are Virginia guard Isaac McKneely, who is scheduled to visit Tennessee on Tuesday, and Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne guard Jalen Jackson, who also appears to be setting up a visit with the Vols.

Tennessee has also shown interest in on Lincoln Memorial guard Elyjah Freeman, a 6-foot-8 freshman who averaged 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds this season in Division II. He shot 57% from the field and 46% from three.

Tennessee will be targeting multiple portal additions, including veteran guards, both on the ball and off, as well as wings and stretch forwards as the Vols rebuild the backcourt and perimeter as a whole.

The current roster has two sophomores on roster, forwards Cade Phillips and JP Estrella, one junior in Felix Okpara and one freshman in Bishop Boswell. 

Estrella has been out since undergoing foot surgery in November, but should play a big role in the post next season alongside Okpara and Phillips. Okpara, the 6-foot-11 Ohio State transfer, averaged 7.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks this season while Phillips averaged 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds.

Zeigler and Mashack depart as the winningest four-year players in program history, going to three straight Sweet 16s and back-to-back Elite Eights. Both are finalists for the National Defensive Player of the Year this season. 

Zeigler averaged 13.9 points, 7.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 34.1 minutes per game in 37 games this season. In 138 games with the Vols over four seasons he averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds. 

He’s the back-to-back SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the SEC’s single-season assist record holder and also holds the Tennessee career and single-season assists and career steals record.

Mashack averaged 6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 assists per game this season. In 137 career games he averaged 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals while being considered as sone of the best perimeter defenders in all of college basketball. 

Vols added Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic Jr., Darlinstone Dubar and Felix Okpara out of portal last year

Gainey, the son of Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey, transferred from USC Upstate in April 2023 and played a pivotal role with the Vols off the bench. After averaging 6.8 points per game last season, his numbers jumped up to 11.4 points per game this season while shooting 40.2% from the field. 

Lanier was one of the biggest names in the NCAA Transfer Portal out of North Florida last April. He picked the Vols over Kentucky and BYU and lived up to the hype, averaging 18.0 points while shooting 40.5% from the 3-point line, breaking Tennessee’s single-season record for 3-pointers with 123.

Milicic transferred from Charlotte, giving Tennessee a stretch forward that averaged 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. 

Dubar was the first transfer addition for the Vols last April, going from Hofstra to Tennessee, but he struggled to carve out a consistent role with his new team, averaging 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game.