Tennessee basketball's transfer portal efforts weren’t limited to just the Division I level this year.

Rick Barnes and the Vols attempted to dip into East Tennessee's Lincoln Memorial, a Division II program, to land a transfer in Elyjah Freeman.

Barnes and Tennessee hosted Freeman for a visit earlier this week in an attempt to swing the recruitment to its favor. However, Freeman picked SEC rival Auburn, instead.

He has three years of eligibility remaining.

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Freeman spent just one year with LMU before entering the transfer portal and moving up to Division I ball. As a true freshman, he was dominant, earning SAC Freshman of the Year.

He averaged 19.3 points per game on a stunningly efficient 57.8% shooting from the field and 46.3% on 3-pointers. He also brought down 9.1 rebounds per outing while passing for 2.4 assists per game.

This came in 28 appearances with 25 starts.

He notched a high of 36 points against Carson-Newman, another nearby school to Tennessee, on Jan. 8. He went 4-for-6 from range in that game.

For his efforts in the beginning stretch of January, Freeman earned South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 13), NABC National Player of the Week (Jan. 14) and TSWA Player of the Week (Jan. 15).

His career-high in rebounds came against Wingate on Dec. 21. He grabbed 16 in the game.

Prior to his college career, Freeman played at Wellington High School in Palm Beach, Florida. There, he was a McDonald’s All-American Nominee.

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