Tennessee continued its men’s basketball success in the NCAA transfer portal Monday, signing former Wake Forest small forward Juke Harris.
The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder from Salisbury, North Carolina, averaged 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists this past season as a sophomore for the Demon Deacons. He was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s second team after averaging 22.9 points in league contests, the second-highest such total in program history and the highest since Charlie Davis during the 1970-71 season.
“Juke is not only an explosive talent but also a humble young man from a great family,” Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said through a release. “One of the premier scorers nationally, he possesses the ability to put the ball in the basket in numerous ways from all over the floor. Juke can take over a game and impose his will at any time.
“He is a versatile player who can handle the ball in transition, and he has the length to make an impact defensively. As someone we were familiar with from his high school recruitment, Juke was a primary target for us as soon as the portal opened, and he fits well with the roster we have assembled.”
Harris is Tennessee’s seventh portal addition since its third consecutive journey to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight round ended with a loss to eventual national champion Michigan. He is also the fifth who averaged at least 15 points per game at his former school, joining Dai Dai Ames of California (16.9), Jalen Haralson of Notre Dame (16.2), Tyler Lundblade of Belmont (15.6) and Terrence Hill Jr. of VCU (15.0).
The two other acquisitions for the Vols, Loyola of Chicago’s Miles Rubin and Kennesaw State’s Braedan Lue, averaged more than 10 points per game.
Barnes was asked at last Tuesday’s Big Orange Caravan stop at Riverdance Restaurant how he planned to make it work with so many proven scorers.
“One of the things we try to get done is the intel and talking to people,” Barnes said. “We love it when we ask them what they’re looking for, and they say, ‘I want to win.’ We feel like we’ve put that kind of group together. I think you can build relationships in an hour. I really do.
“We know when we go into the portal that we’re dealing with someone who’s looking to benefit themselves and continuing to chase their dreams. We want them to chase their dreams, because we’re still chasing the dream of being the last team standing on Monday night.”
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The commitment of Harris vaulted Tennessee to No. 2 in the 247Sports.com team transfer portal rankings behind Louisville. Harris is the No. 8 player in the portal this cycle, according to 247Sports, with Hill No. 19 and Haralson No. 25.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.