Rick Barnes' Eight-Transfer Rebuild Faces Its First Real Test Against Wofford

Knoxville, Tenn. Rick Barnes starts his 12th season at Tennessee on Tuesday with almost nothing left from the team that reached a third straight Elite Eight. The Vols lost all five starters and six other players, according to the AP, and Barnes retooled the lineup with eight transfers, by the AP's count.

The first look at the result was rough. Tennessee dropped both exhibitions by a combined 55 points: 86-70 at home to Xavier on Oct. 15 and 103-64 at Duke five days later, per Saturday Down South. Poll voters were not scared off. The Vols open the season ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25.

Wofford comes to Food City Center for the regular-season opener Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network, according to Tennessee Volunteers On SI. The Terriers went 19-13 last season. The teams last met in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Ky., where the second-seeded Vols won 77-62, per the AP.

The portal haul

The AP framed the plan plainly. After Tennessee came up one win short of the program's first Final Four, Barnes went looking for proven scorers. Seven of the transfers averaged double figures last season.

Harris is the headliner. The 6-foot-7 junior led the ACC in total minutes, per the AP, and his May commitment gave Tennessee the No. 2 portal class in the country behind Louisville, according to 247Sports as cited by CBS Sports. CBS also reported the Vols were expected to spend more than $15 million on players for 2026-27, which puts them among the biggest buyers in the sport.

Haralson led Notre Dame in scoring and shot better than 51% from the floor, the AP noted. Ames gives Barnes a true point guard who averaged nearly 17 points at California. Rubin is the rim protector, a center who blocked more than two shots a game at Loyola Chicago.

Lundblade is the specialist. He made 115 3-pointers last season to lead the Missouri Valley Conference and shot 93.4% at the line, best in the nation, according to the AP. CBS Sports lists his career mark from deep at 43.2%.

The one familiar name is DeWayne Brown II, whom CBS Sports called a key returnee. He will be asked to anchor the glass for a group that is otherwise meeting for the first time in games that count.

What the exhibitions showed

The Xavier loss was the first warning. The Duke game was louder. Saturday Down South wrote that Barnes "certainly won't be happy" with either performance. The 39-point margin in Durham is the kind of number a top-10 team rarely posts, even in an October game that does not count.

Tennessee was not whole, either. Lundblade, the best pure shooter in the group, was still recovering from August back surgery, according to the AP's Oct. 28 report. A deep, veteran team can absorb an absence like that. A roster this new has less margin.

The bigger concern is the identity Barnes has built his tenure on. The AP describes Barnes as a defensive-minded coach, and allowing 189 points in two October games is not what his teams usually look like.

The Hill question

The biggest unknown for Tuesday is Hill. The VCU transfer, an All-Atlantic 10 first-team pick last season, left the Duke game barely four and a half minutes in with an apparent left ankle injury. On3's Mike Wilson reported that Hill returned to the bench after treatment but was on crutches, according to Saturday Down South, and his prognosis was not known that night.

Hill played his way into VCU's top three in minutes despite making only two starts, the site noted. The AP reported he was both the Atlantic 10's Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year.

If he cannot go, more of the ballhandling falls to Ames and Harris, and the guard depth Barnes paid for gets tested in game one. If Lundblade is still working back, Tennessee would open without two of the portal additions it was counting on most for perimeter scoring.

What comes after Wofford

The schedule tightens fast. Tennessee hosts Michigan State on Nov. 17, then opens the Players Era tournament against Maryland on Nov. 24 in Las Vegas, per the AP. A Dec. 6 game against NC State in Nashville and a Dec. 11 trip to Purdue follow before SEC play opens Jan. 2 against Vanderbilt.

Tennessee is one of five programs with at least 25 wins in each of the past five seasons, according to the AP. Extending that run with a roster this new starts with Tuesday's tip against Wofford at 5 p.m. CT.

Sources: AP via La Nacion, Tennessee faces a major reset as Rick Barnes loses all 5 starters; CBS Sports, Juke Harris commits to Tennessee; Saturday Down South, Terrence Hill Jr. suffers apparent ankle injury vs. Duke; AP via La Nacion, eight transfers and three straight Elite Eights (Nov. 3 recap); Tennessee Volunteers On SI via Yardbarker, preview of the opener vs. Wofford