Richmond graduate transfer commits to Vols

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee appears to have filled one of two open scholarships for its 2018-19 men’s basketball roster.

Richmond graduate transfer guard Khwan Fore announced his commitment to the Volunteers on Monday night via Twitter. Fore averaged 11 points per game for the Spiders in the 2017-18 season.

He will be able to immediately use his final year of eligibility with Tennessee.

Tennessee still has one scholarship available for the upcoming season. That number could increase to two, if Admiral Schofield elects to remain in the NBA draft. The deadline for Schofield to remove his name from draft consideration is May 30.

Fore seems a natural candidate to fill the void left by the departure of James Daniel III, a graduate transfer guard who played a key role off the bench as the Vols won a share of the SEC regular-season title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Vols had hoped to sign five-star guard Anfernee Simons, but he elected to declare for the NBA draft instead.

Tennessee also pursued four-star guard James Akinjo from California, but he committed to Georgetown in midApril. By that point in the 2018 recruiting cycle, nearly all the top high school prospects had signed with colleges, leaving the Tennessee staff to scour the graduate transfer market.

Fore, who is six feet tall, started 61 games the past two seasons for Richmond. He is a career 32 percent 3-point shooter and averaged 2.7 assists per game during Richmond’s 12-20 season in 2017-18. He played at Lee High School in Huntsville, Ala.

Barring a late addition, Tennessee will have only one scholarship freshman on its 2018-19 roster. That will be forward Zach Kent, who redshirted this past season.

With a veteran nucleus returning, the Vols are expected to contend for another SEC title. But if there are no true freshmen on the roster, signing a strong group from the 2019 recruiting class will be especially important.

Tennessee already has one 2019 commitment in 6-foot-6 wing Davonte Gaines and the Vols are courting several others, as they should have at least three scholarships available with the graduation of scholarship players Schofield, Fore and Kyle Alexander.

Walk-ons Lucas Campbell and Brad Woodson also will be seniors in the 2018-19 season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Richmond guard Khwan Fore, left, goes to the basket past Fordham forward Ryan Rhoomes (30) and forward Christian Sengfelder (43) during a 2016 game in the Atlantic 10 men’s tournament.