Tennessee basketball commit Dewayne Brown plays the kind of basketball Rick Burns wants to see in his big men. Brown committed to the Vols over Mississippi State, Alabama and LSU. He’s also the first commitment in the 2025 class as Barnes looks to add more young players after losing some to Portal this offseason.
Although Brown still has a few years left to play in orange and white on campus, he has the potential to be one of the top forwards in the 2025 class and could be a playmaker. He also said Tennessee’s style of play was a big reason why he committed to the Vols.
“I feel like [Tennessee] is a pretty good matchup with my game,” Brown said after his official visit in February.
Barnes asks a lot of his forwards, and when they answer, the Vols usually have a pretty good team. This past season, it was Jonas Aidoo and Tobey Awaka. In the past, it was Uros Plavcik and John Fulkerson or Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams.
Brown could be one half of another pair of forwards that help the Vols win another SEC championship or make a deep NCAA tournament run.
He was dominant in high school, helping Hoover High School win its second state championship.
Brown is a versatile player who, according to his high school coach, will do whatever the coaches ask of him. His game also has a big focus on colors. It matches everything Tennessee could ask of him on the court and is a big reason why he chose Tennessee basketball.
We don’t know what type of player Brown will develop into at the college level, but based on his high school performance thus far, he will be a perfect fit for Barnes and the Vols. Barnes is the first recruit in the 2025 class after signing only one player in the 2024 class.
Crystal Ball awarded to Tennessee basketball transfer forward Baylor
Tennessee basketball-Jonas Idu entered the NCAA transfer portal and entered the NBA draft on April 11. Since then, he has spoken with multiple schools about bringing his talents to their programs. Chances are the Tennessee basketball forward will return to the rookie top, but Baylor seems to be the favorite to land him after the 247Sports Crystal Ball.
He averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 51.5% from the field. His production dipped a bit down the stretch in the NCAA Tournament, but that doesn’t take away from the player he has been for Tennessee this year. That’s why he earned first-team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive teams this past season.
Currently, three teams are working hard to achieve Aidoo’s promise. Of the three teams, two are Vols rivals and one is an SEC rival, bordering the Volunteer State. Idu also entered his name in the NBA draft and will express interest at the professional level.
North Carolina was one of the 1st teams to start recruiting Aidoo, a native of Durham, North Carolina. Aidoo was close to becoming a Tar Heel out of college but chose Tennessee instead. Back home seems like the easy answer, but in the world of NIL, anything is possible.
Aidoo has also been contacted by the new coaching staff at Kentucky. The Wildcats lost many players to high school decommits and current players entering the portal after John Calipari left for Arkansas. Kentucky’s new head coach, Mark Pope, is looking to make an immediate splash on the transfer portal by dipping into the SEC for portal talent.
While North Carolina and Kentucky could be options for the former Tennessee basketball forward, Baylor appears to have the upper hand on both programs. Aidoo visited Baylor on Saturday, his first official visit to a school since entering the portal.
Baylor is an interesting landing spot for Aidoo and probably a surprise to many Tennessee fans. The Bears finished the 2023–24 season with a 24–11 record, finishing third in the Big 12 behind Houston and Iowa State. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by Clemson.
With the addition of Aidoo, the Bears will add their fourth forward in the 2024 class. Baylor head coach Scott Drew is clearly looking to add more size to next year’s roster by recruiting traditional and transfer portals.
Tennessee Basketball Spring Transfer Portal Tracker
The NCAA transfer portal window opened in early April and will close at the end of the month. That gives Rick Burns and Tennessee basketball 30 days to decide what their basketball team will look like next season.
Tennessee currently has four players on the transfer portal looking to leave the program. Players can continue to enter their names into the portal or Barnes and the coaching staff can remove their names if they want to return.
Tennessee basketball-889 players have entered the transfer portal so far in the spring window, with 78 committed after crossing the halfway point in April. That’s only 8.77% of Portal players who commit to a new team.
Tennessee basketball makes the top-three for sharpshooting forward transfers
Tennessee basketball and Rick Barnes are working the transfer recruiting trail after four Vols entered the portal and four more graduated. If all transfers follow and Rocky leaves the top, that leaves only one starter on the roster.
Hofstra transfer Darlinstone committed to Tennessee twice on Monday after visiting the campus on Saturday and taking in the festivities with football’s Orange and White game. Barnes and company aren’t done on Portal as they continue to target other players to fill out their roster.
The next player Barnes is looking to top the rookie is Igor Milik Jr. from Charlotte. The 49ers’ transfer forward is looking to attend his third school in four years after starting his career at the University of Virginia and spending two years in Charlotte.
John Rothstein of CBS Sports reports that Milicic is among three teams as he narrows down his transfer decision. The Vols, along with Nebraska and Baylor, round out the top-three for forward transfers.
The 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward from Croatia still has 2 years of eligibility remaining. He averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per basketball game and led the team in made threes with 56, 3 pointers last season.
He’s not going to bring an elite defensive presence to Knoxville right out of the gate, but he’s the same type of player Burns is recruiting through the portal. He is a career 47.6% shooter from the field and 35.8% from three, which is pretty impressive for a man nearly seven feet tall.
Milicic can score all over the court. He is versatile and can play as a five, stretch four or play around the three-point line. Wherever Barnes and Vols need him, he can fill virtually any role on the court. Dubar’s versatility combined with his ability to play all over the court could be a game-changer for the Vols next season. Keep up with everything Tennessee basketball with the Transfer Portal Tracker.