Former Notre Dame guard Jalen Haralson commits to transfer to Tennessee

The Instagram post Jalen Haralson shared Wednesday with the caption of “Home” accompanied by an orange heart signaled his transfer portal commitment. The former Notre Dame guard plans to transfer to Tennessee for his sophomore season.

The 6-foot-7 Haralson spent just one season at Notre Dame after the program heralded him as “the highest-rated prospect to commit to the Irish in the modern history of the program.” But like five of his teammates following a 13-18 performance in a season that wasn’t even good enough for ND to qualify for its conference tournament, Haralson hit the transfer portal earlier this month. He reportedly picked Tennessee over North Carolina and Ohio State.

Haralson, who was named to the All-ACC honorable mentions list after scoring the most points for Notre Dame (437) during the 2025-26 season, may have been the biggest transfer portal loss for the Irish. He became the fourth former Irish player to find a new program after sophomore guard Cole Certa (Clemson), junior guard Markus Burton (Indiana) and sophomore forward Garrett Sundra (James Madison). Sophomore guard Sir Mohammed and freshman forward Ryder Frost have not yet announced transfer commitments. Senior center Kebba Njie is also technically in the portal, but he would need the NCAA to allow five seasons of eligibility to continuing playing in college.

Haralson, who reportedly left Notre Dame due to concerns over resources, averaged 16.2 points per game, which is fourth-best for a freshman in program history behind Troy Murphy (19.2), Adrian Dantley (18.3) and Burton (17.5). Haralson was thrust into the point guard role offensively in the 10th game of the season after Burton’s season-ending ankle injury. Haralson led the Irish in 69 assists (2.6 per game) while also committing a team-high 74 turnovers (2.7). Haralson also averaged 4.0 rebounds per game.

Haralson was the crown jewel in head coach Micah Shrewsberry‘s 2025 recruiting class that was supposed to be a sign of brighter days ahead of the Irish. He was one of four signees in a class that was ranked No. 9 in the country, according to the Rivals Industry team rankings. Only two of those signees are still with the Notre Dame program: forward Brady Koehler and center Tommy Ahneman.

By the time the rankings cycle finished in the 2025 class, Haralson wasn’t ranked higher than former Notre Dame guard JJ Starling was in the 2023 class. The Rivals Industry Ranking pegged Haralson as the No. 20 overall prospect in the 2025 class. It slated Starling at No. 18 overall in the 2023 class. Both became Notre Dame footnotes after spending one season each with the program following the ends of their high school careers at La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere.

Shrewsberry’s efforts to revamp the 2026-27 roster received some good news Tuesday when Winthrop center Logan Duncomb announced his commitment to the Irish. Notre Dame currently has 10 players on its projected roster, which includes three walk-ons.

Tennessee (25-12) finished its 2025-26 season in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to eventual national champion Michigan. The Volunteers, who hosted Haralson for a visit Tuesday, previously added transfer portal commitments this month from Cal guard Dai Dai Ames, Belmont guard Tyler Lundblade and Loyola Chicago center Miles Rubin.