Juke Harris 'to make it official for the Vols very soon' per report 

Tennessee basketball will get a commitment from Wake Forest transfer wing Juke Harris “very soon,” according to On3’s Chris Low on Sunday night.  

Harris, the No. 1 overall player in the Rivals Transfer Portal rankings, has been the biggest name on the board for the Vols since he entered the portal when it opened on April 7.

Rick Barnes has rebuilt his 2026-27 Tennessee roster in the portal, adding guards Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU), Dai Dai Ames (Cal) and Tyler Lundblade (Belmont) and forwards Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago), forward Braedan Lue (Kennesaw State) and small forward Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame).

“Lotta proven scorers in the fold,” Low wrote on social media of the new-look Vols on Sunday night, “and that’s not even counting Juke Harris, who I expect to make it official for the Vols very soon.”

Juke Harris averaged 21.4 points per game last season

Harris, who picked Wake Forest over Tennessee as a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, was named the ACC’s Most Improved Player this season after averaging 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 35.1 minutes per game last season, starting all 35 games for Wake. 

He averaged 6.1 points in 19.0 minutes per game off the bench as a freshman in 2024-25.

Harris took an official visit to Michigan on April 11 and Barnes and his staff had an in-home visit in North Carolina with Harris the following day.

Last week Rick Barnes and three assistant coaches flew to California to meet with Harris again on Wednesday. Harris is training for the NBA Draft in Los Angeles. 

Harris is one of 73 players on the invite list for the 2026 NBA Draft Combine, scheduled for May 10-17 in Chicago at the Marriott Marquis and Wintrust Arena. 

He has until May 27 to withdraw from the NBA Draft.

‘Rick Barnes and his staff have stayed in consistent, frequent communication’

On3’s Joe Tipton reported last Monday that Tennessee seemed to be the team to beat for Harris after Michigan and North Carolina had began to fade in the recruitment. 

UNC added commitments from Utah’s Terrence Brown, North Carolina State’s Matt Able and Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas and Michigan’s contact with Harris “slowed significantly and their previous momentum has cooled.”

“That leaves Tennessee,” Tipton wrote at the time. “Rick Barnes and his staff have stayed in consistent, frequent communication, making it clear Harris is a top priority for the Vols. He strongly considered Tennessee out of high school and nearly landed in Knoxville before a last-second change of heart led him to Wake Forest.”