The Wildcats lost out on a key player in the transfer portal
After a month of collegiate basketball bliss during which Mark Pope, the new basketball coach at Kentucky, accomplished much, something at last went terribly wrong. Chaz Lanier, a scorer for North Florida, rejected Pope and the UK and declared he was signing with Tennessee, meaning the Wildcats lost out on a valuable player through the transfer portal.
It is a devastating blow for Kentucky, and in a way, the choice made by Lanier illustrates how much had changed for UK even prior to the departure of coach John Calipari to Arkansas in April. Lanier probably would have chosen Tennessee over any other Kentucky basketball coach, but he chose the reigning SEC champions because of coach Rick Barnes.
Dalton Knecht, a former guard for North Colorado, had made his way thanks to Tennessee and Barnes. He is expected to be selected in the top five of the NBA draft next month. Lanier was persuaded by the Vols to follow Knecht’s lead, something Pope was unable to do.
According to ESPN, Lanier claimed that UT was the greatest due to its play style and fit. “I’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate my shooting prowess at the highest level of collegiate basketball and hone my defensive skills under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Rick Barnes, who has a proven track record of producing players who make it to the NBA.”
“We discussed the road Dalton traveled, which is really comparable, but Tennessee never compared me to him in terms of our play style or game. I might be able to accomplish the same thing.
