Could Indiana Use Tennessee Connections To Land Transfer Portal Recruits?

No program is immune to transfer portal departures, even one with three straight Elite Eight appearances like Tennessee.

Despite the consistent success, five Volunteers have entered the transfer portal this offseason, including forward J.P. Estrella, guard Bishop Boswell, forward Jaylen Carey, guard Clarence Massamba and forward Cade Phillips.

For a team like Indiana needing to significantly rebuild its roster with transfers, a few of those players make sense as recruiting targets.

Why Indiana could go after Tennessee transfers

Before Indiana coach Darian Devries hired Rod Clark as an assistant coach roughly one year ago, Clark spent the previous four seasons at Tennessee as an assistant under Rick Barnes.

Clark was the main recruiter of J.P. Estrella out of high school, which could be a valuable connection in transfer portal recruiting. Estrella was a four-star recruit ranked No. 61 overall in the class of 2023 out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, and he chose Tennessee over top contenders like Syracuse, Iowa and Marquette.

Estrella, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound forward averaged 10 points and 5.4 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game for Tennessee in 2025-26. He made 13 starts and came off the bench in 20 games, shooting 59.6% from the field, 63.4% from the free throw line and 4-for-10 on 3-point attempts.

JP ESTRELLA OH MY 🫣🔥 pic.twitter.com/0SQxGB39f4
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 4, 2026

As a redshirt sophomore, Estrella started all four NCAA Tournament games during Tennessee's Elite Eight run. That included a 14-point, 10-rebound effort in a win over Miami of Ohio, one of five double-doubles this season. He missed most of the 2024-25 season with a foot injury.

Indiana has plenty of available minutes in the front court after losing forwards Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey, and adding more talent and depth at those positions is a priority. With two years of remaining eligibility and a connection to the coaching staff, Estrella makes sense as a target for Indiana.

Another potential option is Bishop Boswell, who was on Tennessee's roster while Clark was an assistant coach for the Volunteers in 2024-25. Boswell, a 6-foot-4, 204-pound guard, played sparingly as a freshman but had a big role on Tennessee's Elite Eight team in 2025-26.

Starting 33 games, Boswell averaged 6.2 points,, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 42.7% from the field, 38.5% from 3-point range (30-for-78) and 66.7% from the free throw line. His 13 points helped No. 6 seed Tennessee take down No. 3 seed Virginia in the Round of 32.

Bishop Boswell from distance 🎯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IGHe7bbwH8
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026

Two of Tennessee's other transfer portal entrants –– Carey and Massamba –– were not on the team at the same time as Clark, so there's less of a connection there. Phillips and Clark overlapped at Tennessee for two seasons, though Phillips underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in December and played a limited role his first two years.