Basketball Transfers
Bryce Harvey
Coach Rick Barnes and the Tennessee men’s basketball program have hit the transfer market hard in attempt to soften the blow of losing key players in Kyle Alexander, Admiral Schofield, Jordan Bone and 2 time SEC player of the year Grant Williams. All of those players will get a shot in the NBA and I am absolutely ecstatic to see those young men carry on their careers. With that being said, they have left behind a HUGE gap to fill and honestly I didn’t think it would happen.
Tennessee basketball lost 5 players this past year after Derrick Walker decided to transfer to Nebraska. However, Tennessee was only bringing in 4 players in the 2019 recruiting class. So, naturally, Rick Barnes and staff had to find at least one more player who was playing ready. They managed to find two very solid building blocks. The first was a 7 foot-1 center in Uros Plavsic. Uros played his high school ball at Hamilton Heights out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He went to Arizona State where he redshirted his first year before transferring out because of a coaching change. He will have to file for a waiver to play immediately but, Tennessee feels good about the chances of seeing him suit up next season. Uros’s worth cannot be overstated. He will provide some much needed height to a team whose next tallest player measures in at 6 foot 9. Uros is said to be a lot like Kyler Alexander in the way he hustles and makes the much needed plays at the rim.
The second transfer player coming in is a point guard by the name of Victor Bailey Jr. Bailey was a 4 star prospect who played his first 2 seasons at Oregon. His time at Oregon was mixed with good and bad showings. He had 65 assists to 60 turnovers in his first two seasons at Oregon. This is something Coach Barnes has experience fixing. Jordan Bone was a very rough prospect his first year and ½ at Tennessee and then Barnes turned him in to one of the best PGs in the nation. Bailey is a better natural scorer than Bone and can push the pace very similarly. He is a great replacement as Jordan Bone moves on to the NBA.
Tennessee is going to take a step back this coming season and Vol fans need to be prepared for that. However, it won’t be as far back as some analyst might think. Tennessee won’t win a share of the SEC title but, they will be in the second weekend of March Madness. Who knows, there are so many unknowns on this team that they might just surprise you.