Rick Barnes on remaining portal needs: 'You're always looking to add some scoring'
Rick Barnes has already done some heavy lifting with his 2024-25 Tennessee Basketball roster. The Vols on Thursday announced the signing of transfer forward Igor Milicic Jr., who followed Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar and Ohio State center Felix Okpara from the NCAA Transfer Portal to Tennessee.
Still, though, after losing four players of his own to the portal, Barnes has three open scholarship spots on roster for next season.
But even with summer workouts approaching, the veteran head coach isn’t going to speed up his process.
“I think the key is being deliberate,” Barnes said Wednesday night at the final Big Orange Caravan stop in Kingsport, “and in terms of knowing what you want do when you’re really trying to construct a roster.
“I think probably the worst thing you can do is feel like you got to do something quickly, without really thinking it through. But we are really happy with where we are right now. We’re going to be really selective with what we have left.”
Tennessee have signed three players from NCAA Transfer Portal
The 6-foot-10, 225-pound Milicic averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds this season at Charlotte, shooting 48.7% from the field and 37.6% from the 3-point line. Okpara, a 6-foot-11 rim protector, averaged 6.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks this season and averaged 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over the last two years.
The two help offset the loss of junior center Jonas Aidoo to Arkansas and sophomore forward Tobe Awaka to Arizona.
Dubar at Hofstra last season averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game, shooting 53.9% from the floor and 39.9% from the 3-point line. He’ll help replace the loss of fifth-year senior wing Josiah-Jordan James.
The biggest vacancy left to fill is in the backcourt.
And the biggest name left on the board for Tennessee is very obviously North Florida guard Chaz Lanier. The Nashville native is not only one of the best players left in the portal, but is one of the most productive and efficient scorers available.
Chaz Lanier was most efficient scorer in college basketball last season
Lanier averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game last season, shooting 51.0% from the field and 44.0% from the 3-point line.
According to Synergy Basketball, his 19.7 points came on just 16.3 possessions per game, putting him at 1.20 points per possession and ranked No. 1 in scoring efficiency last season.
What Lanier brings is exactly what Tennessee is looking to add.
“I think what we’re looking for now is the best player we can find,” Barnes said. “And someone that … you’re always looking to add some scoring if you can. And that’s something we look at, whether it’s up front or in the back court.
“But right now it’s whatever we do, it’s got to be something that we think that we don’t have and something that we know can benefit us.”
