Outfielder Kyle Booker enters NCAA transfer portal
Following three years in the program with Tony Vitello at Tennessee, junior outfielder Kyle Booker has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Volquest has been told. Thursday was the final day to enter the transfer portal for undergraduate students and that’s what Booker did with his paperwork processed Friday morning.
The Southaven, Miss. native appeared in 28 games this past season for the Volunteers and made 12 starts. He was a part of the starting outfield rotation Opening Weekend but was regulated to a backup role prior to conference play. As a junior, Booker hit .236 with one home run and four runs driven in, stealing two bags and scoring nine runs.
Coming to rocky Top as a highly touted high school prospect, Booker had his best season statistically in the Orange and White. In 2021, Booker appeared in 27 games with 12 starts – hitting .310 with a home run and 10 runs driven in. He logged a career-high 29 appearances in 2022 with six starts, hitting .222 with a home run and 10 runs driven in as well.
The outfielder’s best game this past season came on the road at top-ranked LSU where Booker started in left field and went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. He also registered a 3-for-4 effort against Gonzaga where he scored two runs in nonconference play.
Booker entered college as the seventh-ranked prospect out of the state of Mississippi and checked in as the No. 224 overall prospect according to Perfect Game. He also participated in the 2019 Perfect Game National Showcase, notching a .380 batting average over four years of high school baseball.
The transfer portal window is officially closed for undergraduate athletes after being open for 45 days, starting May 30. The Vols have lost 13 players to the transfer portal as Booker and Austen Jaslove (who entered this week) join a list that includes pitchers Chase Burns, Jake Fitzgibbons, Hollis Fanning, Jacob Bimbi, Shawn Scott, Turner Swistak, outfielder Alex Stanwich, infielders Logan Chambers and Tanner Zellem and catchers Ryan Miller and Payton Ebbing.
Last offseason, Tennessee was active in the transfer portal by adding key components to the roster who would go on to compete in the College World Series. Those players included shortstop Maui Ahuna, third baseman Zane Denton, outfielder Griffin Merritt and pitcher Andrew Lindsey.
Tennessee has added six players from the transfer portal thus far into the 2023 cycle with pitchers AJ Causey and Nate Snead, infielders Ryan Galanie (who will sign with the White Sox) and Billy Amick, along with catchers Dalton Bargo and Cannon Peebles.
