Tennessee a ‘darkhorse’ for Virginia Tech grad-transfer Kerry Blackshear

Kerry Blackshear Jr. announced his intentions to transfer shortly after the departure of Buzz Williams to Texas A&M. The 6-10 center has one season of eligibility left and will be available to play immediately wherever he lands

The ACC basketball star is perhaps the best player to hit the grad-transfer market since the rule has been installed by the NCAA.

Blackshear averaged 14.9 points per contest for the Hokies in the 2018-19 season. He brought in 7.8 rebounds, while adding 2.4 assists per game. The big man shot 33 percent from three-point range and just over 50 percent from the field last season.

As you can probably imagine, the demand for Blackshear is high. He could simply follow his old coach Buzz Williams to Texas A&M, but Kentucky and John Calipari are also in the mix. Calipari visited in-home with Blackshear last weekend, in fact.

However, according to Rivals, Florida, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Michigan State are also in the mix.

Further complicating this process, Blackshear has declared for the NBA Draft. He will receive feedback and decide whether or not he wants to stay in, just as Tennessee prospects Jordan Bone and Grant Williams are doing.

Tennessee is working on their backup plan in the event that Bone does opt to stay in the draft, offering 2020 prospect Jalen Cone the chance to reclassify to the 2019 class. The Vols could certainly used another big body following the departure of Kyle Alexander, however.

In the event that Grant Williams does stay in the draft, Tennessee will have a ton of unknowns in the frontcourt. Perhaps Blackshear is an option if that happens, but you know Rick Barnes would love to figure out a way to pair he and Williams together.

This is a fascinating time of year for college basketball programs. Keep Blackshear in the back of your mind over these next few weeks as Barnes attempts to reload for the 2019-20 season.