Tennessee's lofty projections for the 2024-25 basketball season have been at least partially based off the return of primary post players Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka.
Now they've both left the building.
After Awaka announced Tuesday that he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal, Aidoo entered the portal Thursday while also declaring for the 2024 NBA draft. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Aidoo will go through the draft process while maintaining his eligibility for the potential of a fourth college season.
Aidoo was the second-leading scorer on Tennessee's 27-9 team that recently reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, averaging 11.4 points per game. He led the Volunteers with 7.3 rebounds per contest and also racked up a team-high 66 blocked shots, earning All-Southeastern Conference second-team recognition in the process.
A 36-game starter this past season, Aidoo struggled at the finish line, shooting a combined 6-of-24 in Tennessee's last three NCAA tourney games against Texas, Creighton and Purdue. Aidoo was 2-of-8 from the floor in 17 minutes against Creighton and then played a season-low 10 minutes in the 72-66 loss to the Boilermakers, when he committed three fouls and was held scoreless.
The 6-8, 250-pound Awaka fouled out in 13 minutes against Purdue, with 6-11, 241-pound freshman J.P. Estrella having the most success against 7-4, 300-pound Boilermakers center Zach Edey. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was quick to praise Estrella for the effort in his 15-minute performance.
"I think that's one great takeaway from today for him," Barnes said. "He got a chance to play more than he's played, and I'm sitting here thinking now maybe we ought to try to use him like Zach Edey because he showed his physicality. We thought that about him, but I don't think he's ever seen himself as that kind of player because you watch him warm up, and he wants to stand out there and shoot 3s.
"The fact is he went in there and battled against the player of the year in college basketball. It was a great experience."
Tennessee has now lost four players to the transfer portal since its Elite Eight run: Aidoo, Awaka and reserve guards Freddie Dilione V and D.J. Jefferson.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.