Vols' Rick Barnes dunks on Kentucky's Mark Pope in first major recruiting battle by landing Chaz Lanier

Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers just scored a major victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday evening without a single point being scored.

The Vols secured the commitment of North Florida transfer guard Chaz Lanier, who picked Tennessee over Kentucky and BYU.

Lanier returns back home to the Volunteer state where he played his high school basketball for Ensworth School in Nashville.  He played the last for years for North Florida, but it was his last season that really put him on the map, after playing largely in a reserve role during his first three years.  He averaged 19.7 points and 4.8 rebounds with a sterling 88% percentage from the free throw line and a scorching 44% from beyond the arc in 2023-24.

As such, he is one of the top players in the transfer portal this cycle .  On3 Sports listed him as the #8 overall player in the transfer portal and the #3 shooting guard.

The move gives Tennessee another big scoring option to go along with the other offseason addition of Darlinstone Dubar from Hofstra.  The Vols also added two big men in the portal in Ohio State center Felix Okpara and Charlotte forward Igor Milicic, Jr.

However, Lanier is the player with the biggest upside as far as being able to come in and help replace the scoring lost with Dalton Knecht's departure.  As Vol fans saw last year, having a scorer who can take over is crucial, as the Vols made just their second Elite Eight in program history.

Now, Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols have a big question answered regarding its roster for 2024-25.  And head coach mark Pope and the Wildcats will have to contend with that next year.

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