Vols Key Man Broken Down As Family Involve In Accident’ Wife And Two Kid Lost….See More

Things are pretty good in Knoxville, as Tennessee won another regular season title in the SEC and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight. Despite coming up just short against Purdue for a trip to the Final Four, the Volunteers showed fantastic skill on both sides of the ball, really riding the efforts of Dalton Knecht paired with an elite defense.

There will be a different appearance next season, as Knecht and his 21 points a game are in the NBA, while Jonas Aidoo transferred to Arkansas and a few more faces are gone. Zakai Zigler and Jordan Gainey will be back again but it’s the offseason signings that prompted enthusiasm for the Volunteers.

Rick Barnes and his staff lured quite the haul using the Transfer Portal. They rebuilt the frontcourt with talented Ohio State center Felix Okpara and a pair of forwards, getting Darlinstone Dubar out of Hofstra and Igor Milicic from Charlotte. The lone backcourt addition could become the most important of the group. We’re talking about Chaz Lanier, the Nashville native who spent the last four years in the A-Sun at North Florida. After three years mostly coming off the bench, Lanier took a major step forward as a senior, putting up 19.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while knocking down 44% of his 3-pointers. This offensive explosion made him one of the most desirable shooting guards in the Transfer Portal.