KNOXVILLE — Rick Barnes landed his first commitment as Tennessee’s new basketball coach on Tuesday afternoon.
Then he and the Volunteers doubled their haul.
Point guard Lamonte’ Turner and junior college forward Ray Kasongo both committed to Tennessee on Tuesday to give Barnes and his new staff their first additions at Tennessee.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Turner, who plays at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., picked Tennessee over a final group of Florida, Wichita State, Auburn, Alabama, Louisville and Florida State.
Turner, who is originally from Alabama, is trying to reclassify from 2016 to 2015 so he can play in college next season, and he was rated the No. 92 overall player in the 2016 class according to 247sports. He visited Tennessee in October before Donnie Tyndall was let go as the coach of the Vols. Tennessee’s new staff saw him play recently, however.
Kasongo, out of the College of Southern Idaho, looked to be a lock for Mississippi State and new coach Ben Howland, but he took an official visit to Tennessee over the weekend, along with Kyle Alexander, a 6-foot-10 prospect from Canada.
Originally from Toronto, Kasongo signed with Oregon last year, but wound up going to junior college, where he averaged 6.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 34 games this season.
His scholarship offer list included Ole Miss, LSU, Kansas State and UNLV.
He played at Pikeville High School in Kentucky, where he averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and five-plus blocks as a junior in 2012-13 before going to Westwind Preparatory Academy in Phoenix.
Neither Kasongo nor Turner have signed letters of intent with Tennessee.
Barnes and the Vols badly needed to add point guard help and frontcourt size for next season, and Turner and Kasongo should help in both areas.
The Vols recently were linked to Villanova transfer Dylan Ennis and South Florida transfer Anthony Collins, but Ennis trimmed his list of potential landing spots to Baylor, Illinois and Oregon and Collins committed to Texas A&M on Sunday.
UNC Asheville transfer Andrew Rowsey was scheduled to visit last weekend, but did not make it to campus.
Three-star prospects Turner and Kasongo give Tennessee four players in its 2015 class. Georgia guard Shembari Phillips and Illinois forward Admiral Schofield signed with the Vols and Tyndall in November. Both are sticking with Tennessee even after the coaching change.
The Vols had three spots to fill for next season after freshman forward Tariq Owens elected to transfer last month. There remains just one available scholarship for 2015-16, provided no other returning players decide to transfer.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.