The Tennessee Volunteers have picked up an intriguing big man via the transfer portal after a lawsuit granted him an extra year of eligibility to play college hoops.
That big man would be former top center recruit Jalen Washington, who spent his first three seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2025-26.
Washington gained an additional year of eligibility via court injunction after he joined a lawsuit against the NCAA’s “5 in 5” rule.
The new rule follows an age-based model that starts an athlete’s eligibility clock at the time of their full-time enrollment in college or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs earlier. From the start of that clock, the athletes will have five years to play out their eligibility, and that new rule is scheduled to start this summer with the recruiting class of 2027.
The new model didn’t include any language to grandfather athletes whose fourth seasons of eligibility were completed by the spring of 2026. That’s where these new lawsuits have come in, and that’s how Washington has gained this extra year.
BREAKING: Vanderbilt transfer forward Jalen Washington has committed to Tennessee, @JoeTipton reports
Washington averaged 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season. https://t.co/VTyYmCKih2 pic.twitter.com/4Kqg5jLJpR
This is big for Tennessee basketball, literally, as Washington checks in at 6-foot-10, 245 pounds. Last season with the Commodores, he played in 36 games (starting nine) and averaged 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He also notched 46 blocks and 21 steals, so he’s a defensive presence, without a doubt.
He entered the 2026 NBA Draft but went undrafted. With that said, his potential as a defensive stopper was noted by scouts.
“Washington is a draft-and-stash or two-way candidate whose upside is almost entirely defined by his defensive potential,” his NBA.com draft profile read. “At his best, Washington’s game resembles Onyeka Okongwu, though the latter was a more consistent and offensively polished prospect. If he lands in the right spot, Washington can evolve into a useful backup center on a team that values defensive versatility.”
Washington averaged career highs in points and rebounds last season for Vandy, and he also shot at a 61.8% clip from three-point range.
He should be a starter for the Volunteers in 2026.
Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports
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