Tennessee makes initial cut for 2021 five-star guard Kennedy Chandler

Rick Barnes is bringing the best recruiting class of all time to Knoxville next season — he’s trying to replicate those efforts in his 2021 class. His top target remains Kennedy Chandler, a five-star guard out of Memphis.

On Friday, Chandler named Tennessee to his top ten schools.

North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Michigan, Kansas, Memphis, Florida State, USC and Ole Miss joined the Volunteers. The 6-1, 160 pound guard ranks as the 15th overall player in the class of 2021 — the second ranked player in the state of Tennessee, according to 247 Sports.

Chandler took an official visit to Tennessee back in October. His recruitment has expanded since, picking up new offers from Duke and Kentucky.

The hometown Memphis Tigers were once thought of as an obvious favorite for Chandler, but a recent update from Kentucky.com suggests otherwise. Tennessee has been working on Chandler for some time now, perhaps that will give them a leg up in the end. But Rick Barnes and staff are going to have to fend off the bluebloods of the sport here, something they’ve actually been able to do with some consistency lately.

Five-stars Josiah James, Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer have the Vols trending up for the future — might that momentum pay off with Chandler?