Rick Barnes and Tennessee basketball have seen great success in transfer portal recruiting recently. Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier are the Vols' best players to come out of the portal and will be back-to-back NBA Draft picks for the Vols.
That's a great pitch to sell prospects in the portal this year. If you want to be drafted, come to Tennessee. Barnes has done that in two straight years, but that's not all.
Lanier claimed a national award after his breakout season. He averaged 18 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Lanier was named the Jerry West Award winner, the first Tennessee player to ever receive the award.
The Jerry West Award, managed by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, recognizes the best shooting guard in the country.
Lanier won the honor by beating finalists Caleb Love from Arizona, VJ Edgecombe from Baylor, PJ Haggerty from Memphis, and Tre Johnson from Texas.
"I want to start by thanking the West family and the selection committee for naming me the recipient of this incredible distinction," Lanier said. "It is a true privilege to win the Jerry West Award, and I am deeply honored.
"I would not be in this position without God and the support of my family, my coaches, my teammates, and the fans. Representing the University of Tennessee this year has been special, and this accolade is not just about me but also about all of us who contributed to such an awesome season."
North Carolina's RJ Davis, Duke's RJ Barrett, Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell are a few players to have won the award since its inception in 2015.
This comes one year after Knecht also made history in his lone season on Rocky Top. Last year, Knecht was named the Julius Irving Award winner, becoming the first player to win that award as well.
Barnes can parlay Knecht and Lanier's success the past two seasons into a compelling recruiting pitch to potential recruits in the transfer portal. If he was struggling to connect with potential portal players, his pitch should be a whole lot easier now.