Tennessee Basketball gets a BIG grad transfer

On Friday, Tennessee Basketball got a BIG grad transfer from East Orange, New Jersey, as Rick Barnes brings the Anosike family back to Knoxville.

Uros Plavsic and John Fulkerson might have some competition down low this fall with Tennessee basketball’s most recent grad transfer. Rick Barnes locked in another big man on Friday as forward E.J. Anosike announced he is transferring to Tennessee.

Anosike is in a unique situation, too, with his sister, Nicky Anosike, also playing basketball for the Lady Vols under Pat Summitt.

The six-foot-seven, 245-pound forward chose the Vols over Gonzaga, Louisville, Georgetown, Georgia, Wake Forest, and Boston College. Barnes pulled out all of the stops to get Anosike to Knoxville.

He also had an amazing season last year at Sacred Heart, where he averaged a double-double. He earned First Team All-Northeast Conference honors and averaged 15.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists last season.

With this addition, it looks like Barnes is looking to build a big lineup for the future. With the addition of Anosike, Tennessee will now have nine players on its roster for the 2020 season, standing at least six-foot-six and the second of the 2020 recruiting class.

This is a big addition for Tennessee, and with Tennessee Orange in the Anosike family blood, E.J. seems happy to be back in Knoxville.

Anosike could quickly become one of the most productive players on Tennessee’s roster once he arrives in Knoxville. In his three years in college, Anosike totaled 27 double-doubles and led the NEC in rebounds per game as a junior.

One thing Tennessee struggled with last year was making it to the free-throw line. Consistently Tennessee’s opponents had way more free throw attempts. Anosike could be Tennessee’s way to improve getting to the free-throw line.

Last year, he had the second-most free throws in the conference and was tied for third-most free throws made. If Anosike can balance out the Vols at the free-throw line, then the Vols are already one step closer to getting back to where they were this time last year.