Rick Barnes lost his entire starting five. Ja'Kobi Gillespie graduated after 18.4 points and 5.4 assists a game. Felix Okpara graduated. Nate Ament, the five-star freshman who averaged 15.8 points and 6.0 rebounds on an Elite Eight team, is projected first-round in the NBA Draft. J.P. Estrella took his 9.7 and 5.2 to Michigan. Jaylen Carey committed to Missouri. Bishop Boswell — 33 starts at the point — picked Maryland over NC State despite Justin Gainey being his high school recruiter. Cade Phillips is out. Seven players in the portal, three graduated, a likely first-round pick gone. Roughly 65 points a game walked out the door.
Barnes replaced 60.3 of them in ten days. Dai Dai Ames at Cal: 17.0 points, 38.1 percent from three, 33 starts. Jalen Haralson at Notre Dame: 16.2 points as a five-star freshman, now three years of SEC eligibility ahead of him. Tyler Lundblade at Belmont: Missouri Valley Player of the Year, 40.9 from deep on 31 starts. Miles Rubin at Loyola Chicago: a 6-10 rim protector averaging 2.2 blocks on 58.5 percent shooting. Two high-scoring SEC-ready guards, a seasoned wing with shot-making, a shot-blocking big. That is the exact template that produced the 2024 Elite Eight run and the 2025 SEC regular-season title. Four starting-caliber commits before the portal was two weeks old, without a single bidding war leaking into the news cycle.
One swing remains that changes the ceiling. Juke Harris is the No. 1 player in the portal per On3, and Tennessee is in his final group alongside Michigan, UNC, and Kentucky. Carolina is reportedly at $5M. A top-10 high school class headlined by four-star forward Chris Washington Jr. — the former Alabama commit — backfills the freshman pipeline either way. Land Harris and this becomes a preseason top-five team. Miss him and the Ames-Haralson-Lundblade-Rubin core still projects Elite Eight in a league that just sent five teams to the second weekend. Three days remain before the portal closes. The board below is what is left to get.
17.0 PPG, 46.6 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from three across 33 starts — Cal's leading scorer and primary creator. The 2.1 APG is low for a point guard, but the scoring efficiency and shot profile make him a high-volume two who can handle the ball. Ames and Haralson together give Barnes 33 combined PPG in the backcourt-and-wing — more perimeter firepower than the 2025-26 rotation ever had.
16.2 PPG on 51.5 percent shooting at 6-7 — rare size-and-scoring efficiency for a freshman combo guard. The 20.0 percent three-point mark is a real concern, but Haralson lives at the rim and in the midrange, where he is elite. Three years of eligibility and the highest ceiling of any Tennessee portal commit. The 2.7 APG says he can run secondary offense alongside Ames. A former top-ranked 2025 HS recruit who now gets a proper SEC development track.
15.8 PPG and 40.9 percent from three across 31 starts at Belmont — the kind of veteran shooting specialist that anchors an SEC rotation. 43.2 percent from the field overall, 79 percent from the line. MVC Player of the Year. The senior-year price tag keeps this move cheap, and the fit next to Ames and Haralson is obvious: Lundblade spaces the floor, both creators attack.
11.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG with 2.2 BPG on 58.5 percent from the floor at Loyola Chicago — the efficient-scoring, shot-blocking big Barnes has been chasing since Kel'el Ware left. The three-point game does not exist (0 percent) but everything else does. Pair him with Ames-Haralson-Lundblade and Tennessee has four of five starters at SEC-starter level before the freshman class factors in.
The No. 1 player in the portal per On3. 21.4 PPG and 6.5 RPG at 6-7 with two years of eligibility. Tennessee is in his final group but Michigan ran the most recent visit and UNC is reportedly at $5M. The Vols have the pitch — an established SEC winner with Ames and Haralson already locked in — but the price and the competition are both stiff. A long shot that would turn this class from top-10 into top-three nationally.
We've been chasing guys that fit who we are. Rick's portal record speaks for itself — these four fit.
Best case: Ames at the point, Lundblade at the two, Haralson at the three, Chris Washington Jr. or a returning wing at the four, Rubin at the five. Four portal commits and a top-10 high school class plus Barnes's system. That is a Final Four-caliber rotation without spending more than four major portal slots. If Juke Harris picks Tennessee on top of it, the Vols become a preseason top-five team. Miss Harris and the rotation still projects Elite Eight. The worst-case scenario is still better than where Barnes was sitting when the portal opened. That is what a top-five NIL budget in the SEC combined with a proven coach buys.