Coming off a vastly disappointing 2025-26 season, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball coach Dan Earl and his staff turned over every possible proverbial rock to put together the best possible potential roster for 2026-27.
The Mocs literally limped through a 13-19 season (with a 7-11 mark in Southern Conference competition) as they were decimated by injuries this past winter after winning the 2025 National Invitation Tournament, but in an age of transfer fluidity that results in teams bearing little resemblance to the one the year before, they have 12 new players for next season.
While the amount of turnover is not unique — even at UTC, which last year brought back few of the players who led the way to the NIT title run — what does stand out is the balance in the dozen additions for the Mocs. There are six transfers, three international freshmen and three from the United States, including one from Chattanooga in Boyd Buchanan’s Caleb Hardaway. And among the six transfers, three came from fellow NCAA Division I programs, two from the Division II ranks and one from a junior college.
The 12 new players will complement Sean Cusano, who is entering his fourth college season, third-year guys Houston Holland and Liam Vitters, and second-year players Zach Bleshoy, Josh Bowman and Tate Darner.
Last season, just four players (seniors Makai Richards, Billy Smith and Brennan Watkins plus junior Jordan Frison) appeared in every game. Richards, Smith, Watkins, Jikari Johnson and Teddy Washington have graduated, while Frison transferred to Wichita State, Latif Diouf to Kent State, Sebastian Hartmann to Kansas City, Collin Mulholland to Utah State and Parker Robison to Auburn University at Montgomery.