The Tennessee Vols went hard in the transfer portal this offseason.

Rick Barnes and the Vols added eight transfer additions to pair with four high school signees and two returning players (DeWayne Brown and Troy Henderson).

The first transfer to commit to Tennessee this offseason was Tyler Lundblade, who spent the last two seasons at Belmont.

Lundblade joined Rocky Top Insider’s The RTI Low-Down on Sunday and addressed the “elephant in the room” with the Vols’ offseason transfer additions.

Tyler Lundblade understands the goal for Tennessee basketball in 2026-27

Lundblade made it clear while talking with RTI’s Ryan Schumpert and On3’s Chris Low that getting over the Elite Eight hump is the goal for the Volunteers this upcoming season.

Barnes and the Vols have been eliminated in the Elite Eight in three straight seasons.

“We’ve got a chance to do something really special,” said Lundblade. “Kind of the elephant in the room, I guess, is we’ve been to three Elite Eights in a row, but [Tennessee] can’t get over the hump. I think that this year, Tennessee’s making a real push to get over that hump.

“And like I said, me being the first guy in the class, it was pretty cool to be able to say, ‘Hey, let’s go do this. Let’s go get guys, let’s do something special.’ So I think as you start to see kind of all the pieces come into place, it was easier to get some of those last ones to fall into place.”

Barnes and his staff have done a great job of building a Final Four-caliber roster. But that’s only the start of this journey. There’s a lot of work to be done between now and next April as Barnes helps this team reach its ceiling.