KNOXVILLE -- Rick Barnes again went north of the border to add to Tennessee's basketball roster.
Kyle Alexander, a 6-foot-10 forward out of Toronto, picked the Volunteers over New Mexico on Thursday afternoon to become the second native Canadian to pledge to new Tennessee coach Barnes.
"Proud to announce that this fall I will be attending the University of Tennessee. Can't wait to get it started!" Alexander posted on his Twitter account.
In addition to scholarship offers from Missouri, Pittsburgh, Old Dominion and Rhode Island, the three-star center out of Orangeville Prep in Ontario had interest from Auburn, Arkansas and Dayton and took official visits to St. Bonaventure and Rice before taking trips to Knoxville and Albuquerque the past two weekends.
Alexander is the third player to join the Vols since Barnes replaced Donnie Tyndall at the end of March. His second year of playing basketball was cut short by a hand injury that forced him to miss two months. Alexander, with a 7-foot, 5-inch wingspan, is a raw prospect with length, athletic ability and upside.
"I think the kid's going to blow up," Orangeville Prep coach Larry Blunt told Adam Zagoria of NBA.com and SNY.tv. "He's flown under the radar because he's never played AAU before this year.
"Kyle can run like most guards. And he really can defend one through five and he pretty much blocks everything that gets thrown up, so I think a lot of people are intrigued with his length, his ability to run, his athleticism. He's probably gained 10 pounds since he's been here. He's just continued to develop each and every day, which is kind of exciting.
"I'm not saying he's Joel Embiid, but (it's a) similar fashion where he started really late and kind of snuck up on people late. And I think that's what Kyle's going to do as well."
While at Texas, Barnes opened up a pipeline into Canada by landing Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson and Myck Kabongo, a trio of five-star prospects.
Joseph and Thompson were the No. 8 and No. 17 overall prospects in the 2010 class, according to Rivals.com, and now play for the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. Kabongo was No. 26 overall in 2011 and spent part of this season in the NBA Development League.
Junior college forward Ray Kasongo, also originally from Canada, and point guard Lamonte' Turner committed to Tennessee last week, and Kasongo signed his national letter of intent with the Vols two days later.
Kasongo and Alexander should help a Tennessee frontcourt that desperately needed to add size after the transfers of forwards Tariq Owens and Willie Carmichael left an undersized roster even more shorthanded.
"I really liked the way (Kasongo) was on the visit as I got to know him and the fact that he really is determined and wants to be good," Barnes told reporters before Tuesday night's Big Orange Caravan stop in Memphis.
"Being around him and his parents, one, you're talking about a high-level character kid (with) great parents. We've talked to him about what we need him to do and do it consistently on the court. We need him to be a rebounder, hard-nosed play every minute that he's out there. That's how he wants to be coached.
"When you are honest and open with players, you tell them what you want, and they're willing to embrace it, those are the kinds of guys you really want to be around."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.