This is huge! The Tennessee Volunteers actually did it. They successfully landed former Wake Forest Demon Deacons star Juke Harris out of the transfer portal. While the Michigan Wolverines and his home state's North Carolina Tar Heels were in the mix to land him, it always felt like Harris was going to commit to play for Rick Barnes' team. He will effectively be replacing Ja'Kobi Gillespie this season.
Harris was trending toward committing to Tennessee as recent as last week, but now this is official.
NEWS: Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris has committed to Tennessee, he told @On3.
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) May 4, 2026
The 6-7 sophomore averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season. Harris, who has been projected as an early second-round pick, tells @On3 he will also be withdrawing from the NBA… https://t.co/cBkEKLoNKf pic.twitter.com/cmDuVxI53b
While Barnes landed one of the best players out of the transfer portal, the pressure is starting to mount on the veteran head coach to take next year's Tennessee team further than any Vols squad has gone before. After knocking on the door of the Final Four each of the last three years, Barnes needs to take this Volunteers team to the promised land, now that they have Harris part of the mix.
Barnes did take the 2002-03 Texas Longhorns to the Final Four, but that was a quarter century ago...
The Juke Harris addition makes it Final Four or bust for Rick Barnes' Vols
When looking at the upper echelon of the SEC entering next season, the Vols will have to compete with the likes of Arkansas, Florida, and Vanderbilt for conference supremacy. While Florida had been the top dog in the conference of late, one would think that this portal addition of the Vols now makes Tennessee the team to beat in this league. Frankly, anything short of a Final Four now will be a failure.
So will Barnes finally get it done in Rocky Top? He has been in Knoxville for nearly a dozen years now. While he has won everywhere he has coached before, his legacy will be defined by if he is the first Tennessee head coach to lead the Volunteers to the Final Four or not. He may be young at heart, but Barnes is in his early 70s. He cannot do this forever. If he cannot get it done, a big change may occur.
Simply put, there may not be a team in the entire Power Five facing more pressure from a coaching standpoint than Barnes is entering this season. Michigan just won a national title, while Duke looks to regroup under a new cast for Jon Scheyer. Tommy Lloyd may face some pressure on his new deal at Arizona, but the clock is ticking on the ageless Barnes to get it done. Harris could be the difference.
While all of Tennessee should celebrate this huge portal pickup, just know the bar has been raised...
Add us as a preferred source on Google