Tennessee Volunteers Reportedly in Mix for Standout Wing in CBB Transfer Portal
The Tennessee Volunteers are coming off three consecutive trips to the Elite Eight, and with legendary coach Rick Barnes potentially nearing the end of his career, there will be more investment into the program than ever. That’s showing up in their early efforts to add talent in the college basketball transfer portal. On3.
com ‘s Joe Tipton reported this past week that Tennessee is joined by Georgia Tech, Alabama and Auburn as the early programs making a run at Troy Trojans forward Thomas Dowd. Related: Tennessee Volunteers to Spend Massive Sum on Basketball It will be a tough battle for Tennessee. His former coach, Scott Cross, was hired to take over Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball program.
The Volunteers could also face stiff competition from Alabama, who just signed Nate Oats to a contract extension and will likely invest even more in the roster moving forward. Dowd, a 6-foot-8 forward, is rated by On3 and Rivals as a top-55 player in the college basketball transfer portal. In his final season at Troy, he was named to the 2026 All-Sun Belt Tournament Team and won the Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Across 34 regular-season games, he averaged a double-double with 14. 4 PPG and 10. 1 RPG, recording double-digit rebounds in 17 games.
He’s expected to take multiple visits in a lengthy recruiting process. Related: Volunteers Trending to Flip Top Recruit from SEC Rival Tennessee already secured its first commitment in the portal earlier this week when Belmont guard Tyler Lundblade made it official following a multi-day trip to Knoxville. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard made 219 three-pointers in two seasons at Belmont, shooting 43.