Tennessee basketball's first land of this transfer cycle has put pen to paper and is officially a member of the Vols.
Darlinstone Dubar out of Hofstra joins Tennessee as a sharpshooter who shot 39.9% on 3-pointers and 53.9% from the field last season. This was good for 17.8 points per game.
Now, he'll be paired up with a group of effective wings that are returning to the Vols including Jahmai Mashack. Mashack is entering his senior season with Tennessee and could quickly tell Dubar and himself had a similar mindset.
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This mentality is giving everything to win. As long as transfers having winning in mind, Mashack is confident they'll fit in.
"He's a great guy, man. He's a great guy," said Mashack. "Talking to him, he really does care about winning. Truly he cares about winning. He wants to come here to do that exact thing. Obviously, it's going to be hard. It's going to be tough. He's in a new program, new system, new coaching, new teammates but we're going to support him as much as we can and try to make it as easy as a fit for him as we can for him. We care about anybody that wants to give their all to Tennessee. Talking to him, that's exactly what he wants to do. He's excited to come here and get better. He's excited to come here and start a new chapter and hopefully we can get even better than we did last year. He wants to win and he's made that known to me and the team."
While Dubar comes in most known for his elite shooting, he is also excited to join Tennessee's vaunted defense. There is a high expectation for players when they arrive on campus that they will defend at the highest level in college basketball.
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This was one of the talking points when Dubar visited. He told head coach Rick Barnes that he is excited to defend alongside some of the best in the country in Mashack and Zakai Zeigler.
Barnes also boasted about the versatility he brings to the team and his growth-first mindset.
"Everybody we bring here, we know we want them and we bring them here," said Barnes. "He saw what he wanted and he wanted to be a part of it. Special kid, very special kid. And you can tell he is a worker, got a lot of desire. He wants to be really good."
Zeigler said the team can tell if a player is going to fit in out of the portal. There is a specific type of player that meshes well with the team and responds to Barnes' coaching.
The rising-senior point guard thinks Dubar fits this mold perfectly. In fact, he knew of Dubar before his commitment.
As a New York native, his cousins saw Dubar and raved about the skillset he could bring to Knoxville.
"He fits perfect. He fits perfect," said Zeigler. "I could tell as soon as he walked in. Actually, I played in a school in Long Island, Hofstra, my cousins had went to go watched them play. They had told me he'd be really good for us and help us out a lot. So, I know he'll be a great addition for us this season."
Tennessee is still active in the portal in attempt to add more pieces around the returning core and Dubar. Jonas Aidoo, Tobe Awaka, Freddie Dilione V and DJ Jefferson are all still currently in the portal as departures, but the Vols are doing their due diligence to replace them.
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