Tennessee Basketball: Rick Barnes takes his turn at dominating recruiting

Tennessee basketball and Rick Barnes took their turn at dominating recruiting news for a day after Jeremy Pruitt did it earlier this year.

Tennessee basketball ended the week on a high note with 2021 five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler announcing that he’s committing to Tennessee. The Vols will hope to parlay Chandler’s commitment to adding another recruit relatively soon.

For Chandler, Rivals, and ESPN ranks him as the nation’s No. 1 point guard and No. 10 player in the country on Rivals and the No. 12 player in the country on ESPN. He announced on Friday that he’s choosing the Vols over Duke, Kentucky, Memphis, and North Carolina.

"“Coach Rick Barnes, they have been recruiting me ever since they knew who I was — ever since Day 1,” Chandler said on Instagram Live. “(Assistant) Coach Kim English and them, they recruited me hard. On my official visit, it felt like home. It was my first official visit and I really liked it.“I’ll be looking forward to winning and going to the Final Four and winning the national championship and bringing energy and excitement to Thompson-Boling Arena.”"

Now that Rick Barnes and the Vols have Chandler’s commitment. They’re turning their eyes to 2021 five-star power forward Paolo Banchero.

After Chandler announced that he was joining the Vols, Banchero’s crystal ball was updated to a tie between Kentucky, Washington, and Tennessee. 247Sports Director of Basketball Scouting, Jerry Meyer, has updated his predictions and chose Tennessee as Banchero’s landing spot.

ESPN, Rivals, and 247Sports have Banchero listed as a five-star. ESPN has him ranked as the No. 3 player in the country and Rivals has him as the No. 2 player in the country.

The Vols are in Banchero’s top-six with Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky, and Washington. Banchero and Chandler have already talked about playing college basketball together, so Tennessee is hoping that Chandler’s commitment will help bring Banchero to Knoxville.