Rick Barnes aggressively recruiting elite scorers after recent transfers

Tennessee basketball and Rick Barnes are in the middle of transfer portal recruiting season after a successful season. The Vols won the regular season SEC Championship and made a run to the Elite Eight, but that isn't keeping some of their playmakers around for next season.

Four Vols players are graduating, and four more have entered the transfer portal. This has put Barnes and the Vols in recruiting mode, and they are aggressively pursuing high-level and efficient scorers in the portal.

Barnes brought Hofstra grad transfer forward Darlinstone Dubar and Belmont transfer guard Cade Tyson to Rocky Top during the Spring festivities on Saturday. The two transfer prospects had the opportunity to attend the Vol Walk, Orange & White Game, and Tennessee-LSU baseball game.

They also saw Vol Nation's support for the basketball team's SEC Championship and the football team's Spring game. If that's not enough to interest any sport in transferring to Rocky Top, then I don't know what is.

Darlinstone has a five-star name and could add a four-star forward to Tennessee's rotation next season. In his junior season, he averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, shooting 53.9% from the field and 39.9% from the three-point range. Dubar is an excellent scorer and could be an elite addition to Tennessee's roster next season.

Tyson was an elite three-point shooter for Belmont last season. He shot 46.5% from three, averaging 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He's a career 49% shooter from the field and improved his already impressive three-point shooting as a sophomore last season.

While Dubar and Tyson visited campus over the weekend, Charlotte transfer forward Igor Milicic Jr will be visiting campus in the next couple of days. The Junior from Croatia had a solid Junior season, averaging 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds per game, averaging 48.7% from the field, and shooting 37.6% from three.

Dalton Knecht improved Tennessee's scoring and three-point shooting last season, but the team was still not where it needed to be at points throughout the season. If the Vols could add at least one of these transfers, they would be able to replace some production lost to the draft and portal while improving their offensive scoring.

Barnes recruited a specific mold of players in past years through the portal. Milicic is unique because he's a forward who's a three-level scoring threat, as opposed to a forward who spends most of the time down low applying a physical paint presence against opponents.

These three players are top prospects in this year's portal cycle, so Barnes will have to battle with other top programs to bring them to Rocky Top. Regardless, it's clear Barnes is going for players who are efficient scorers and able to bring high-level offense to Rocky Top.