Tennessee Basketball’s Cam Carr enters the NCAA Transfer Portal

Cam Carr is leaving the Tennessee Basketball program and plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. The sophomore wing, who is looking to redshirt this season, has been out since Nov. 17 with a ligament injury in his left thumb that required surgery.

Carr had the thumb cast removed last week and had been working through individual drills during practice while sidelined with the injury. The original timetable for return was 4-6 weeks.

No. 1 Tennessee (11-0) hosts Middle Tennessee State (9-3) on Monday night (7 Eastern Time, SEC Network) at the Food City Center. The Vols are back at home next Tuesday against Norfolk State in the final non-conference game of the season before SEC play begins Jan. 4 against Arkansas.

Carr averaged 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game off the bench over the first four games of the season. He had four points and one rebound in nine minutes against Austin Peay when he suffered a thumb injury after scoring a career-high 13 points in 16 minutes against Montana in a 92-57 win on Nov. 13.

Tennessee entered the season short-handed, with just 11 scholarship players on the roster out of a possible 13, and the Vols have gotten even thinner over the past two months.

Sophomore center JP Estrella was lost to season-ending foot surgery in late November, and Carr has been out the last four weeks.

Hofstra transfer wing Darlingstone Dubar missed the first four games of the season while dealing with a personal matter and missed the Dec. 10 Miami game at New York while in concussion protocol. Freshman guard Bishop Boswell also missed a game due to concussion protocol.

Carr injured his left thumb in the second half of the November 17 win over Austin Peay. The thumb bent back awkwardly when he was fouled with 7:10 left. He stayed in the game to shoot the ensuing free throws, made one of two, then checked out for the rest of the game.

Tennessee is off to its best start to a season since the 1999-2000 team started 11-0. The Vols have been ranked no. 1 in the last two weeks and is four wins away from setting a new record for the best start in program history.

Four players left the program through the NCAA Transfer Portal this spring with forwards Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka leaving with guards Freddie Dilione V and DJ Jefferson. Aidoo went to Arkansas, Awaka went to Arizona, Dilione landed at Penn State and Jefferson is at Longwood.

Rick Barnes and his staff added three starters out of the gate, at guard Chaz Lanier (North Florida), stretch forward Igor Milicic (Charlotte) and center Felix Okpara (Ohio State).