Vol basketball adds to strong portal class, baseball continuing upward trend

Already with one of the top transfer portal classes in the country, Tennessee basketball continued its positive momentum over the weekend. The Vols announced the singing of former Kennesaw State forward Braeden Lue on Monday following Lue visiting Knoxville over the weekend. Lue is a rising junior with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He was a member of Conference USA's All-Defense team in 2025-26. Last season, he averaged 10.9 points, 5.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game for the Owls. "We are pleased to welcome Braedan and his family to our basketball program. He is a superb young man with excellent character, which makes him an outstanding fit for our program," Vols head coach Rick Barnes said in a release. "Braedan is a fast and twitchy player who possesses big-time athleticism, a sturdy frame and an elite wingspan. He is a proven winner, a great teammate and an impactful defender who is willing to play any role to help his team." Lue is the sixth transfer portal addition for Tennessee this spring. He joins Tyler Lundblade, Miles Rubin, Dai Dai Ames, Terrence Hill Jr., and Jalen Haralson in the portal class. According to 247Sports, it is the fourth-best transfer portal class in college basketball, trailing only Louisville, Texas, and Indiana. Baseball Tennessee baseball will look to continue its strong play in SEC competition starting Friday at Kentucky. The Vols are coming off a series win against archrival Alabama that featured a doubleheader sweep last Friday. After dropping the series opener, UT won both parts of the double dip 10-0 and 11-4. Tegan Kuhns earned SEC Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in game two of the series. Kuhns tossed a complete-game shutout to open Friday, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out nine. Trent Grindlinger also earned weekly honors from the conference, winning Co-Freshman of the Week. Seven of his eight hits last week came over the course of the Alabama series. Over the course of the doubleheader, Grindlinger totaled five hits, including a double and two homers, three runs scored and five RBI. Tennessee now sits at 10-11 in SEC play and looks more solidly in the NCAA Tournament field. D1Baseball.com currently projects the Vols as the two-seed in the Conway Regional and the No. 22 seed nationally. Alongside hosts and No. 10 national seed Coastal Carolina, the region was projected to feature Western Carolina and Campbell. Softball The Lady Vols softball team also hosted Alabama over the weekend, and took two of three from the No. 3 Crimson Tide. After a strong two innings on Monday night by Erin Nuwer, Tennessee turned to Karlyn Pickens the rest of the way. She only allowed one run in the final five innings, striking out 11 and not walking a batter as the Lady Vols won 4-1 in the series finale. Tennessee now ranks No. 7 in the D1Softball.com Top 25 with an overall mark of 40-8 and 14-7 in SEC play. It will finish the regular season at Missouri this weekend before the conference tournament. Football Over the weekend, five former Vol football players heard their names called in the NFL Draft. First, cornerback Colton Hood went in the second round to the New York Giants and wide receiver Chris Brazzell was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round on Day 2. Then on Day 3, cornerback Jermod McCoy was taken in the fourth by the Las Vegas Raiders, edge rusher Joshua Josephs was selected in the fifth round by the Washington Commanders, and the Detroit Lions took defensive lineman Tyre West in the seventh round. Seven more Vols were signed to free agent deals following the seven-round draft, including quarterback Joey Aguilar (Jacksonville Jaguars), tight end Miles Kitselman (Detroit Lions), and defensive back Jalen McMurray (Tennessee Titans). Back on campus, Tennessee announced on Tuesday it has once again sold out of its season ticket allotment. It is the fourth-straight season the school has sold all of its inventory. The school sells 70,500 of Neyland Stadiums, 101,915 seats as season tickets, with the rest going towards student tickets, visiting schools, and single-game sales.