Tenn Truth
Fansided

Tennessee Basketball: What’s next for the Vols after DJ Burns transfer

By Colton Pickard

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Zach Kent #33, Brad Woodson #12, Admiral Schofield #5, and D.J. Burns #32 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the National Anthem before the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Zach Kent #33, Brad Woodson #12, Admiral Schofield #5, and D.J. Burns #32 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the National Anthem before the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

DJ Burns has announced he will be transferring back home to Winthrop in South Carolina. This move was expected, and now the Vols have to move forward without him.

DJ Burns was a big target for Tennessee coming out of high school. After Rick Barnes got his guy and put him through his “fat camp,” where Barnes works players into losing their extra weight. Both Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield went through this and turned out to be stars.

Burns was expected to ball out in 2019 after he went through this camp. Now it’s clear that won’t be the case, at least at Tennessee, as Burns is heading to Winthrop.

With this transfer, the Vols lose another forward after losing Williams and Schofield to the NBA Draft leaving their roster in that area a bit thin. There are now five forwards on Tennessee’s roster and could be six if Uros Plavsic is cleared for this upcoming season.

But now the question is, where should the Vols go next? Should they bring in another transfer and fill Burns’ spot on the roster or hold out until the upcoming class and use that extra roster spot to bring in someone out of high school?

Well, it’s unlikely if a transfer does come in to fill that spot he won’t be eligible to play this upcoming season based on what we’ve seen already with Plavsic and Victor Bailey Jr.

I would rather bring in a top talent out of high school knowing there’s a good chance we could get solid production from him for at least a couple years.

Both have their unknowns but if a player is transferring it’s usually because he’s not getting the minutes he wants. The only reason you don’t get minutes in college basketball is if you’re not good enough to play with the other guys on the court.

Of course, there are players who are good that are looking for a change of scenery or just ready to move on from their current school but with a year off from basketball it’s hard to argue they will be back to competing at a high level when they get back on the court.

Jeremy Pruitt committed the dumbest NCAA violation. dark. Next

Barnes has shown he can bring in the underrated players and develop them into future NBA players. He’s done that at Texas and now at Tennessee. I would rather have Barnes develop a young guy into an NBA talent then try to figure things out on the fly with a transfer.

Home/Tennessee Volunteers