‘It feels like Tennessee is trending pretty hard’ – Rick Barnes and the Vols are poised to get a big offseason win
Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols hit the ground running this offseason. Not only are the Vols being aggressive in the NCAA transfer portal, but they’re also hitting the recruiting trail hard.
Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols appear poised to get a big offseason win this week.
VolQuest’s Austin Price noted Wednesday during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will that Tennessee is “trending” to win the recruiting battle for 2026 four-star forward Chris Washington Jr, a former Alabama commit.
Washington, 6-foot-8/195 pounds from Murfreesboro, TN, is slated to announce his commitment on Thursday at 4:30 PM ET.
“They have a lot of momentum there,” said Price. “It feels like Tennessee is trending pretty hard there for Chris Washington Jr, and that’s one that they’ve been in on for a while. I think he sees the opportunity in Knoxville, and the chance for him to come in. He sees what DeWayne Brown did this past year. He sees what Amari Evans did this past year as freshman. To be honest, he probably will get more opportunities next year, just because the roster really thinned out quite a bit. I think that’s a big reason why Tennessee has started to trend pretty hard for Chris Washington Jr.”
Washington is rated as the No. 43 player in the 2026 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee.
Ole Miss, Auburn, Villanova, and USC are also among Washington’s finalists.