Tennessee reportedly in contact with USC transfer Desmond Claude

A late option in the portal.

Rick Barnes likes keeping one or two spots free deep into the offseason, but he may have found a potential suitor earlier than expected. Armed with one open scholarship left, Barnes could use another experienced guard on the roster. On Wednesday one option emerged, according to Jeff Goodman.

The report states that both Tennessee and Oregon have been in contact with transferring USC guard Desmond Claude.

Claude spent two seasons at Xavier before transferring out west to USC. He’ll be looking for his third team to close out his eligibility. Claude has averaged over 15 points per game in each of his last two seasons. The former four-star prospect checks in at 6-6, 201 pounds.

Coming out of New Haven, Connecticut, Claude ranked as the 101st overall prep prospect in his 2022 cycle, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Claude shot just 23 percent from three-point range as a sophomore at Xavier, but he was able to improve that number to 30 percent while shooting considerably less last season at USC.

Tennessee has added point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and shooting guard Amaree Abram out of the transfer portal to form a new-look backcourt. Outside of that though the Volunteers don’t have much experience in the guard rotation. Freshmen Amari Evans, Clarence Massamba and Troy Henderson enter the picture, joining second-year player Bishop Boswell. Five-star freshman and top NBA prospect Nate Ament will man the wing and give Barnes a lot of lineup versatility.

Of course, there’s also the situation of the Zakai Zeigler lawsuit, which he hopes would allow him to play another year of college basketball.

So yes, it’s almost June, but the final Tennessee roster isn’t set just yet. It does appear Barnes and his staff are interested in using that final roster spot, however, which hasn’t always been the case.