Tennessee lands transfer portal star to give Vols Final Four potential in men’s college basketball
· Yahoo Sports
The Tennessee Volunteers were already one of the biggest winners of the transfer portal in men’s college basketball this offseason. Head coach Rick Barnes already had a strong six-man class headlined by former VCU bucket-getter Terrence Hill Jr., one-time Notre Dame scoring forward Jalen Haralson, and ex Loyola-Chicago rim protector Miles Rubin. On Monday, Tennessee landed its biggest transfer portal commitment yet, and it has the team set up to potentially make its first Final Four run in program history.
Juke Harris committed to Tennessee to complete arguably the country’s best transfer portal haul. Harris was testing the 2026 NBA Draft process right now, where he was projected as a borderline first-round pick, but he’s pulling out of the draft and will play at Tennessee next season. Harris projects as one of college basketball’s best wing scorers, and a potential game-changer for a Vols’ offense that needed a boost to get over the hump after three straight Elite Eight appearances.
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Harris made a huge sophomore leap this past season at Wake Forest, going from 6.1 to 21.4 points per game in a featured role. The 6’7 wing showed an ability to create his own offense off the bounce with impressive touch on tough mid-range pull-ups, but also proved he could have movement shooting ability by running off screens to hit shots with range. He’s a true three-level scorer, and he should be in the running for SEC Player of the Year if he pulls out of the draft.
Harris made 47.8 percent of his mid-range attempts with more than 90 percent of them being self-created without an assist. That creation ability will be a huge boost for a Tennessee offense that ranked No. 31 last season. Harris needs work on his defensive awareness, and the Vols should be an ideal fit for improving in that area. Tennessee’s defense ranked in the top-5 of DI for five straight years before “slipping” to No. 14 last year.
Head coach Rick Barnes is on the brink of his 72nd birthday, and he’s led the program to three consecutive regional finals. Tennessee has never been to the Final Four in men’s basketball, and its going all-out to give Barnes a chance to do it before retirement. The Vols have also earned commitments from point guard Dai Dai Ames (Cal), shooter Tyler Lundblade (Belmont), and forward Braeden Lue (Kennesaw State) to go along with Harris, Hill, Haralson, and Rubin.
Hill and Harris should be one of the best scoring duos in the country. Haralson could be in for a sophomore leap too next season after entering college as a former top-25 national recruit. The Vols should have a better offense than defense for the first time in the Barnes era, and they can bank on their system to help improve the defensive ability of their individual players.
Harris was ranked as the third-best available player in the transfer portal behind Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and Iowa State shooter Milan Momcilovic, who are both testing the NBA Draft process. Tennessee already had the No. 3 transfer portal class even before Harris’ commitment. Tennessee was No. 8 in our too-early top-25 poll before Harris’ commitment.
Tennessee, Texas, and Florida are poised to make the SEC arguably the toughest conference in men’s college basketball again during the 2026-27 season. The Vols were already expected to be very good, and they just got a lot better with Harris on board.