Matt Johnson
The Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball program reached the Elite Eight for the third consecutive season under Rick Barnes. With Barnes about to turn 72 years old and the Volunteers’ football program in a transition year, there will reportedly be a massive investment into basketball next season.
According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, Tennessee is expected to spend more than $10 million on the roster for the men’s basketball team next season. It would be one of a select few programs across the nation, including Kansas, Arkansas, and Michigan, to invest eight figures.
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For comparison, per Nakos, the Volunteers spent $8.5 million on the men’s basketball roster this season that reached the Elite Eight. A significant portion of that went to freshman Nate Ament, a former five-star recruit, who made over $1.3 million in his first year in Knoxville.
Some of that money has already been spent. Following a multi-day visit to the campus, Belmont guard Tyler Lundblade committed to Tennessee on April 1. The 6-foot-5 guard, who is rated by On3.com as a four-star transfer prospect, shot 40.6 percent from beyond the arc this past season, and the graduate transfer made 219 three-pointers in the last two seasons with the Bruins.
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Another name in the college basketball transfer portal to keep an eye on per On3.com‘s Joe Tipton, is Troy forward Thomas Dowd. Currently rated as the 40th-best player in the portal, the 6-foot-8 forward averaged 14.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game this past season at Troy while shooting 34.4 percent from the perimeter (1.8 three-pointers made per game).
The portal could prove particularly important for Barnes given Tennessee’s high school recruiting class ranked just 27th for the 2026 cycle, headlined by four-star commits Ralph Scott and Manny Green. With the Volunteers potentially losing Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, and Felix Okpara, Barnes will likely need to find at least two more starters in the portal.
