Tennessee added Ian Duarte through the NCAA transfer portal Sunday afternoon, and he could help the Volunteers offensively and on special teams.
Duarte was a redshirt sophomore receiver at Idaho State this past season, amassing 46 receptions for 521 yards (11.3 yards per catch) and three touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 176-pounder also had 12 kickoff returns for 242 yards (20.2) and 11 punt returns for 113 yards (10.3) for the Bengals, who compete in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Vols played this past season with only seven scholarship receivers and have since lost Chris Brazzell II early to the NFL draft pool and former Baylor School standout Amari Jefferson to the portal. In the 2026 signing cycle, Tennessee landed five-star receiver Tristen Keys of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and four-star receiver Tyreek King of Knoxville Catholic.
Duarte, who has two years of eligibility remaining, visited Knoxville last Wednesday and Thursday. He ultimately picked the Vols over Illinois.
“I just liked the facilities and the surrounding areas and the campus as well,” Duarte told 247Sports.com on Sunday. “Just everything about it was pretty cool. There wasn’t anything that I saw that was bad, honestly.
“It was a good time overall.”
The Vols on Sunday afternoon also received a commitment from former Miami cornerback Jadais Richard, who was a reserve this past season for the Hurricanes, tallying five tackles in five games.
Richard played in nine games for Miami during the 2024 season before getting injured, making six starts and collecting 27 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one interception. The 6-1, 195-pounder from West Monroe, Louisiana, signed with Vanderbilt in 2022 and spent one season with the Commodores before transferring to Miami, and he will have one year of eligibility at Tennessee.
His one year at Vanderbilt contained one start, with that being the 56-0 loss to Tennessee in Nashville.
“I’ve played corner, nickel and safety,” Richard told 247Sports.com, “so it’s wherever they see me at and wherever I can get on the field fast and help the team.”
Duarte is from the Boise suburb of Eagle and was the nation’s No. 254 receiver and No. 5 player from Idaho in the 2023 signing class, according to 247Sports.com.
He began this past season with a six-catch, 105-yard, one-touchdown performance in a 38-31 loss at UNLV, a Football Bowl Subdivision program that went on to win 10 games under first-year coach Dan Mullen. Idaho State is typically one of the worst FCS programs, as reflected by its 15-48 record from 2019-24, but the Bengals went 6-6 this past year with losses to the FBS tandem of UNLV and New Mexico, and to the FCS power tandem of Montana and eventual national champion Montana State.
Idaho State’s stadium has a capacity of 12,000, so playing in Neyland Stadium will be a shock to the system.
“That will be a huge jump and, honestly, pretty insane,” Duarte said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.