Tennessee basketball starts off portal season with a blue-chip addition

Well, that didn’t take long! We are just a few days into the off-season, and the Tennessee basketball program is already making huge additions to the team.

For an older coach like Rick Barnes, it’s great to see how well he is adapting to the NIL era of college basketball and is willing to use the transfer portal to enhance the roster. 

With that being said, Tennessee has just picked up a massive commitment from Belmont transfer Tyler Lundblade. Last year he was there, the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the year, averaging 15.6 points onm 43% from the field. This is a very high-level add, as 247Sports has him rated as the No. 17 overall transfer.

Tyler Lundblade is a A+ add for Tennessee

This is huge news as it fills multiple needs on the Tennessee roster. First of all, Lundblade is an elite three-point shooter, and with Tennessee losing Ja’Kobi Gillespie, this is an archetype that was definitely needed for next season. Not to mention, he is also a great free-throw shooter, which is something that really hampered the Vols all last season.

Rick Barnes and the coaching staff put the full-court press on Lundblade, as they got him on campus right away, and it seems to have paid major dividends. While he is a portal product, getting In-state players to come to Tennessee is a huge move. Plus, the last time a former Belmont player came to Knoxville, it was Ja'Kobi Gillespie, and he was a stud.

Now that Tennessee has gotten a bona fide player who can score the ball, I would really like to see them get a point guard. Plus, it wouldn't possibly be a bad thing to grab another big man to complement Jaylen Carey and J.P. Estrella. 

All in all, this move makes one thing clear, and it's that Rick Barnes will do whatever it takes to make a Final Four. It's clear he could've left this roster as is, but he expected and wasn't more out of the Tennessee Vols. The good news is that this is just the beginning of portal season.