Another day, another transfer commitment for Tennessee basketball. The Volunteers picked up a pledge from Harvard wing Chris Ledlum this evening, giving Rick Barnes another reinforcement. Ledlum announced his decision on Instagram on Wednesday.
Ledlum joins guard Jordan Gainey, who committed to Tennessee on Tuesday coming over from USC Upstate to join his father, Tennessee assistant coach Justin Gainey. The Volunteers also received official word that veteran guard Santiago Vescovi would be returning for one final season.
Ledlum, a 6-6, 225 pound wing, averaged 18.8 points per game for Harvard last season. He grabbed 8.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field. Ledlum connected on 29 percent of his three-point attempts. He put up a season high 35 points against Cornell late in February. Playing against top competition, Ledlum scored 17 points against Kansas in the early season.
Defensively, Ledlum averaged 1.1 block and 1.8 steals per game.
He picked Tennessee over St. John’s and Indiana. Tennessee has been after Ledlum since their loss in the NCAA Tournament to FAU. Rod Clark visited him in person the day after the loss, heading over to Boston from New York City. The entire Tennessee staff was in to see him today, which apparently was enough to lock up a commitment.
Ledlum can score in a variety of ways — shooting, slashing and in the post. He’s a thicker, powerful player that likely can man the three or four spot for Rick Barnes. Tennessee needed more offense, and they go out and grab a bucket-getter here.
The Volunteers are still waiting on final decisions from Josiah-Jordan James, Uros Plavsic and Julian Phillips. The deadline for Phillips to enter the 2023 NBA Draft is April 23rd.
UPDATE: James and Phillips will go through the NBA Draft process, per Rick Barnes.