Just one day after the season has ended, Rick Barnes is already looking to get this roster prepared for next season. Tennessee is losing veteran point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and likely will lose star freshman Nate Ament to the NBA Draft, so replacing some of that production will be a major focus this offseason. Plus, you never know who on the current roster will enter their portal.
Rick Barnes has an obvious replacement for Justin Gainey with a Tennessee connection
Well, it hasn’t taken Barnes long at all to identify a top player already. According to Ben McKee of 247Sports, the Vols are hosting Belmont transfer guard Tyler Lundblade for an official visit right now. McKee said almost the whole Tennessee coaching staff is picking him up from the airport, so they must be putting the full-court press on him early.
Tennessee is hosting Belmont graduate transfer guard Tyler Lundblade on an official visit.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) March 30, 2026
Nearly the entire Tennessee coaching staff just picked Lundblade and his parents up from the airport.
🔗 https://t.co/X7IisSssSb pic.twitter.com/q8mwOIUbhM
Tyler Lundblade would be a perfect add for Tennessee
This is a huge development that would completely change the trajectory of the team next year. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter averaged 15.6 points a night and shot nearly 41% from three and 93% from the free-throw line. His jumper is lethargic, and Lundblade can get hot at any moment. Yesterday's game against Michigan showed that Tennessee needs more shooters, and adding Lundblade would be an immediate step toward addressing that.
Oh, and if his resume wasn’t impressive enough, Lundblade just won the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He has a confident stroke and can stretch the floor, which was something that Tennessee lacked all season. He is a good scheme fit for the Tennessee offense, too, in the off-ball motion actions Barnes likes to run. I can see him just raining a deep three already off a dribble handoff.
Not to mention, the last time Tennessee picked up a player who played at Belmont, it was Ja’Kobi Gillespie. Even if Lundblade is half of what Gillespie was this year for Tennessee, it would be a success.Â
Obviously, it’s still very early in the recruiting process, and Lundblade will likely do his due diligence with other schools, but it’s great to see he’s hitting Tennessee so soon and that Rick Barnes is making him a priority. Let’s see where this goes.