Rick Barnes called his shot and Tennessee basketball is a better team now because he was right
Tennessee Vols head coach Rick Barnes is continuing to prove that age is only a number. Barnes and the Vols have been operating like the Energizer bunny this offseason as they continue to bolster the roster through the portal.
Tennessee Vols head coach Rick Barnes called his shot this week and he nailed it.
Barnes suggested to reporters on Thursday that Tennessee had a big man committed that fans and media weren’t aware of.
“How do you know we haven’t added some and haven’t told you?” said Barnes when asked about adding a big man. “That’s what you should be asking. And the answer to that is yes, but we’re not gonna tell you. But the fact is as we look at what we have left, we want to make sure that, again, that we got guys that certainly understand the physicality in this league. And we addressed that with what we have and what we have left.”
Kennesaw State transfer forward Braedan Lue commits to Tennessee
It didn’t take long to find out who Barnes was talking about.
Kennesaw State transfer forward Braedan Lue committed to the Vols on Friday after visiting Tennessee earlier this week.
Lue, 6-foot-9/235 pounds, averaged 10.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season. He recorded a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) in a loss to Alabama last December. The Georgia native scored a season-high 23 points against Middle Tennessee State in February.
It’s possible that Tennessee could show interest in adding another big man, though it’s certainly not as big of a need with Lue and Loyola transfer center Miles Rubin in the boat for the Vols.
Tennessee is still in the mix for Wake Forest transfer wing Juke Harris, who is also considering the NBA, Michigan, and North Carolina.