Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris, one of the best perimeter players in the portal, announced his commitment to Tennessee on Monday. Harris was the fourth-best available player left in the portal, No. 6 in ESPN’s overall transfer rankings.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore established himself as one of the nation’s elite scorers, breaking out during his second season with the Demon Deacons. He averaged 21.4 points, ranking 16th in the country in that category, while also contributing 6.5 rebounds.
Harris earned second-team All-ACC honors and was the runaway winner for Most Improved Player in the league.
Harris is the latest addition to one of the elite portal classes in the country, a group that should dramatically improve Tennessee’s offense moving forward. Barnes’ team finished 10th in the SEC in offensive efficiency last season, also ranking sub-200 nationally in 3-point percentage.
But Barnes went out and emphasized scoring in the portal, with Harris joining Dai Dai Ames (16.9 PPG at California), Jalen Haralson (16.2 PPG at Notre Dame), Tyler Lundblade (15.6 PPG at Belmont) and Terrence Hill Jr. (15.0 PPG at VCU) among the Volunteers’ high-scoring pickups.
Tennessee lost its top six scorers from last season, but has reloaded what appears to be a top-10-caliber team on paper. The Vols have seven total transfers and a pair of SC Next 100 recruits entering the fold.
