On Wednesday, Tennessee basketball guard Chaz Lanier will find out where he’s headed in the NBA.
With less than a week until the 2025 NBA Draft, ESPN has updated its big board for the draft class.
Lanier comes in at No. 38 overall. This is just a one-spot drop from where he was previously ranked by the outlet, but is consistent in projecting him as being one of the first players taken in the second round.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
Lanier is the seventh-highest ranked prospect out of an SEC school. He ranks as the No. 15 player listed as able to play shooting guard.
Vols forward Igor Milicic Jr. is also on the list. He moves up six spots to No. 70 overall. This puts him just shy of being projected as a draft pick, but puts him in the mix for an undrafted free agent deal.
Making their debuts on the list were Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack. Zeigler is ranked as the No. 88 prospect while Mashack registers at No. 98.
Lanier made an impact in just one season at Tennessee. He was a major piece in the Vols reaching the Elite Eight for the second-straight year and just the third time in school history.
Out of North Florida, he averaged 18 points on 43.1% shooting from the field. His 123 converted 3-pointers were a program-best, eclipsing the previous record held by Chris Lofton for more than 15 years.
Lanier scored 20 or more points in 15 games, including a 29-point outing in Tennessee NCAA Tournament First Round win over Wofford and 20 point against UCLA in the Round of 32.
Lanier was named All-SEC by the Associated Press and league coaches and the SEC Newcomer of the Year. He was listed on a number of All-America Teams, as well.
The Vols are looking to have a player selected in the NBA draft for a fifth-straight season. Last year, Dalton Knecht was picked by the Lakers with the 17th pick of the draft.
The year prior, one-and-done forward Julian Phillips slipped just outside the first round, being picked 35th overall by the Bulls. In 2022, also a second-round one-and-done selection, Kennedy Chandler was taken by the Grizzlies 38th overall.
Tennessee had a pair of first-round selections in 2021. Keon Johnson went to the Clippers with the 21st pick and Jaden Springer went to the 76ers with 28th pick.
While the Vols did not have any draft selections in 2020, Rick Barnes helped produce draft picks of Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone in 2019. Those were the first draft picks out of Tennessee since Josh Richardson went in the second round of the 2015 draft.
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