Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols could be on the verge of receiving some very good news.

On3’s Pete Nakos predicted on Friday that Tennessee will land Wake Forest Demon Deacons transfer guard Juke Harris.

NEW: On3's @PeteNakos has logged an expert prediction for Tennessee to land Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris🍊

Harris is the No. 1 player in the On3 transfer portal rankings.https://t.co/f4ExVPJOBu pic.twitter.com/vEn8nbTrBo

— On3 (@On3) May 1, 2026

Harris, 6-foot-7 from Salisbury, NC, averaged 21 points per game as a sophomore in Winston-Salem last season.

Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris is also considering the NBA

Barnes and his staff went to California earlier this week to visit Harris, who is also considering the NBA.

“He and his agents want to give the NBA a hard look and see where they stand,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price Wednesday on WNML’s Josh and Swain. “And see what feedback they get. If it stays late first or early second round, I just have a tough time seeing him go that route. Now, if they said, ‘Hey, man, you’ve done a tremendous job in the workout process, and you’re going to jump up to a lottery pick’, I think he’d be gone.

“But I think if he stays kind of where everybody’s projecting him, I think there’s a real chance that he comes back to college. I think Tennessee makes the most sense. I think financially and location wise, they kind of hit what he’s looking for in the sweet spot. And I think Tennessee felt like they were in a good place there for a while, and I think Rick Barnes and the entire staff have continued to work him really hard.”

Nakos’ prediction is good news for the Vols, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a final decision from Harris is imminent.

“I don’t think we know a timeline,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs on Friday. “Obviously he is an early entry into the NBA Draft and is evaluating his draft stock, and then he’ll make a decision after that. Now, every mock draft you see has him somewhere in the second round. Financially, it would make a lot more sense to play another year of college basketball and help your stock there, which is why most people don’t think the NBA Draft is a realistic option for him.

“Now, does he want to go through the pre-draft combine in Chicago and get full feedback from that so that he knows what he needs to work on this offseason? Sure, I think that could be a possibility. I don’t think it drags out until May 27, which is the final day you have to pull your name out of the draft if you want to. But I don’t know that there’s an immediate timeline for anything to happen, but I do think Tennessee has positioned themselves well with Juke Harris. And it feels like it’s more, I guess, maybe a matter of time than anything.”

Harris has two seasons of eligibility remaining.