Tennessee wastes no time targeting one of the top transfer PGs in the country

The Transfer Portal opened on Tuesday, and though Rick Barnes already made an addition with graduate transfer Tyler Lundblade from Belmont, he has plenty of work to do. The Volunteers already have players in the Transfer Portal, including Bishop Boswell and Amari Evans. So, along with Jakobe Gillespie exhausting his eligibility, rebuilding the backcourt has to be a top priority for the Vols. 

That process is reportedly already underway, though Tennessee is likely a long way from the finish line with one of its early targets. The Vols joined a long list of teams to reach out to VCU transfer point guard Terrence Hill Jr., the Atlantic 10 sixth-man of the year, who led the Rams to a first-round upset win over UNC with 34 points. 

Tennessee is one of the 1st teams to contact Terrence Hill Jr. 

Hill makes plenty of sense as a target for Tennessee. While he isn’t known for his defensive prowess, through all of its recent coaching changes, VCU has remained a program built on a defensive identity. That philosophy would make it an easy transition from Richmond to Knoxville. 

Barnes has led Tennessee to three-straight Elite Eights, and while he runs a home-grown program, he’s done it on the backs of big-time splashes in the Transfer Portal: Dalton Knecht in 2023-24, Chaz Lanier in 2024-25, and Jakobe Gillespie in 2025-26. Hill would fit the bill as the lead scoring option with veteran experience after averaging 15.0 points in 25.1 minutes a game as a sophomore for the Rams. 

Hill is an efficient scorer, posting a 62.9 percent true shooting percentage, which is rare for a player with a usage rate north of 25 percent. Crucially, he also managed just an 8.5 percent turnover rate while racking up 2.8 assists per game. He may not be the true pass-first table-setting point guard, but his ball security would help sure up one of Tennessee’s biggest issues last season, when it ranked 154th in the country with a 14.2 percent turnover rate (per CBBanalytics.com). 

It’s not just the backcourt; Barnes has work to do in the front court as well, with Jaylen Carey, Cade Phillips, and JP Estrella all testing the portal waters. Unlike last year with Nate Ament, he doesn’t have a top-flight recruit who can come in and play significant minutes as a freshman. Tennessee’s top recruit in the 2026 class is four-star Ralph Scott, who is the 53rd-ranked player in the class.