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With Jonas Aidoo, the Tennessee Vols suffer another portal loss.
The doorway both gives and takes away. With the addition of Dalton Knecht to the team last year, the Tennessee Vols benefited from the former; however, the latter has made two appearances this week.
This time, according to numerous publications, it’s center Jonas Aidoo, who is purportedly registering on the transfer site and filing for the NBA Draft. With forward Tobe Awaka declaring his intention to depart on Tuesday, it’s the second significant portal loss of the week.
Nothing else can be said about it. For the Vols, that is just a huge loss. Ignore the bias some supporters may have toward Aidoo’s poor performance against Purdue in the Elite Eight. Aidoo was a force in the paint and was a member of the SEC all-defensive team the previous season. Among the best rim protectors in college basketball, he has improved this season even though he still has a lot of room to grow in his offensive game.
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In 24.8 minutes a game, Aidoo averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in the previous campaign. From 2022–2023 his total points per game more than doubled.
Rick Barnes has a difficult job ahead of him in trying to rebuild and develop the roster for 2024–25 with both of their most physically gifted players in the paint departing town. Former Arizona Wildcat Oumar Ballo, a 7-foot center from Mali, is the brass ring of brass rings as far as big guys go in the transfer portal. Ballo made his intention to enter the portal known earlier this week. He pulled down 10.1 rebounds and scored 12.9 points on average per game. All of the big programs will undoubtedly be fighting for his services, though, so the Vols will have to move up in line.
However, such is the current state of collegiate athletics. Whether fans like it or not, free agency is well underway, and players will be shopping for better opportunities every offseason.
In the near future, we’ll see if Barnes can leverage it to try and find some quality replacements. For Tennessee now has some very large shoes to fill.
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