What Rick Barnes said about Clarence Massamba of France signing with Tennessee basketball
Portrait of Mike WilsonMike Wilson
Knoxville News Sentinel
Rick Barnes thinks Tennessee basketball fans are going to love watching Clarence Massamba play for the Vols.
That belief was among many expressed by the Vols coach after the French guard signed with UT.
“Once we identified Clarence as a player of interest, we immediately became excited about his impressive upside,” Barnes said in a school release on April 30. “He is a long, athletic, versatile guard who can really attack in the open court. He is good with the ball in his hands, yet also possesses the ability to excel without it. Clarence has a nice feel for the game and an excellent basketball IQ.
“He is a hard-working, driven young man who plays with a chip on his shoulder and our fans will love seeing the way he competes.”Five-star prospect Nate Ament is the highest-ranked recruit in program history as the No. 4 recruit nationally. Tennessee signed four-star forward DeWayne Brown II and four-star guard Amari Evans in November. Three-star guard Troy Henderson signed in April. Henderson and Ament played AAU basketball together with Team Loaded 17U.The Vols now have 12 scholarship players set for the roster next season with eight newcomers.
Tennessee has signed three players out of the transfer portal in former Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, former Vanderbilt forward Jaylen Carey and former Louisiana Tech guard Amaree Abram.
