With a pledge from a star Belmont guard, the Tennessee Volunteers got off to a fast start in the college basketball transfer portal in April. Head coach Rick Barnes now seems to have a chance of recruiting a talented player from another small-school program.
With moderate assurance, Pete Nakos of On3. com made a forecast in his most recent edition of Calling My Shot for the college basketball transfer portal that Tennessee will sign Loyola big man Miles Rubin.
Statistics for Miles Rubin from ESPN: 2. 3 APG, 2. 3 BPG, 7. 1 RPG, and 11. 3 PPG
Rubin, who is six feet ten inches tall, has played center for his hometown Loyola Chicago Ramblers for the last three seasons. As a junior, he started all 33 games and led the team in points and rebounds while hitting 58. 5% of his shots from the field. He also earned a spot on the A-10 All-Academic Team last year.
247Sports ranks him as the 18th-best power forward and the 75th-best overall player in the transfer portal. He is currently a four-star recruit in the portal after being rated as a three-star recruit out of high school and undergoing development at Loyola.
Nakos claims that Barnes and the Volunteers coaching team are “in a position to move quickly” to get Rubin to commit after he arrived in Knoxville on Friday in preparation for his senior year. Considering Nakos’ past track record of predicting with moderate certainty, it’s likely that Rubin will play for Tennessee next season.
The Volunteers desperately need more depth in their frontcourt. Jaylen Carrey entered the portal, Felix Okpara graduated, and J. P. Estrella moved to join the Michigan Wolverines.
It’s reasonable to assume that Barnes could concentrate on finding a point guard to take Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s place if Tennessee can get Rubin to commit to partnering with Belmont shooting guard Tyler Lundblade.
