Tennessee basketball has three open scholarships. Here's how the Vols should use them.
Tennessee basketball has filled half of its scholarship openings in a frantic offseason of roster movement.
Three in and three scholarship spots to go for the Vols, who are building a roster for coach Rick Barnes' 10th season.
Here is the latest on Tennessee's offseason roster build:
What could happen next for Tennessee basketball roster?
Tennessee likely will use two of the scholarships and hold the third, which has been a pattern in the past under Barnes.
It covets a high-scoring guard, which would round out the roster by pairing a backcourt scorer with taller scorers. North Florida's Chaz Lanier is as good at it gets in the portal. Lanier averaged 19.7 points and shot 44.4% on 3-pointers with the Ospreys. The 6-foot-4, 199-pound Lanier played high school basketball at The Ensworth School in Nashville. Competition for Lanier will be fierce.
Adding a backup point guard remains a need and preferably one with multiple years of eligibility given Zakai Zeigler is heading into his senior season as the lone point guard on the roster. That has been a gap on UT's roster the past two seasons and has proven costly in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee has not shied away from keeping a scholarship open into the late summer under Barnes. That habit led to adding Zeigler late in the 2021 class and Tobe Awaka late in the 2022 class. It also allowed UT to bring in Santiago Vescovi at midseason in the 2019-20 season. But entering the season with multiple open scholarships isn't a situation the Vols want to be in so filling two is important.
Tennessee basketball has addressed needs in the transfer portal
Tennessee went into the transfer portal needing to inject offense into the roster again. It has done that and got a lot bigger at the same time.
UT brought in Darlinstone Dubar, a 6-8 guard from Hofstra, and Igor Milicic Jr., a 6-10 forward from Charlotte. Dubar averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 39.9% on 3-pointers. Milicic averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in his junior season at Charlotte. He shot 37.6% on 3-pointers.
TRACKER: Tennessee basketball transfer tracker: Who's in, who's out for Rick Barnes' roster
Dubar and Milicic combined to make 129 3-pointers last season.
The Vols had a major need in the post after their top two post players transferred. They nailed it by adding Felix Okpara from Ohio State. The 6-11 Okpara is a big-time shot blocker and physical post player. He averaged 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 70 games in two seasons at Ohio State. He averaged 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds while blocking 82 shots as a sophomore starter.
Who is returning for Tennessee basketball?
The backbone of Tennessee's roster is the returning backcourt: Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack are heading into their senior season as the leaders of the team. Zeigler figures to be a preseason All-American. He is the reigning SEC defensive player of the year, an award Mashack has an argument for as well as an elite defender.
Rising sophomores J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips are back in the post. Estrella looks like a future star after how he played late in the season. Guard Cameron Carr, also a sophomore, has massive offensive upside. Senior guard Jordan Gainey will be counted on to chip in scoring off the bench and showed he can knock down jumpers consistently after transferring from USC Upstate.
Incoming guard Bishop Boswell is the lone signee in the 2024 class.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball: Could Chaz Lanier be next transfer addition?
