A variety of reasons attract players out of the transfer portal and to their new schools.

Tennessee has the luxury of having the resources and tools to appeal to many of the aspects that go into this recruiting.

For UT Martin transfer Grant Hurst, it was a unique situation that brought him to Knoxville, though.

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The Knoxville-born and Cleveland, Tenn. raised guard began his career as a Skyhawk where he spent the first two years of his career. As a true freshman, he averaged 0.9 points and 0.7 assists per game.

However, after redshirting during the 2022-23 campaign, he decided he wanted to explore other options. This ultimately is what led him to the Vols.

Hurst wants to one day be a coach. So, he figured there's nobody better to learn how to do so by than Rick Barnes who has been the head coach in well over 1,000 games throughout the course of his long career.

"The reason I came here is because I ultimately want to become a coach," said Hurst. "Coach Barnes has obviously done this at a very high level for a very long time. There's many things that I've learned so far and I'm looking forward to growing in that aspect more and more."

While he is still yet to begin his first season under Barnes' tutelage, he is already learning lessons.

What stands out to Hurst the most so far is the way he treats his players. There aren't favorites. Instead, everyone is held accountable and to the same standard.

"Just the accountability that he holds every single one of us to," said Hurst. "Me being a walk-on, to the superstars on the team, there's really no difference. You can't tell who he favors more of less of. He holds everybody to the same standard."

This is something he's picked up on in conversations and by simply watching Barnes operate.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Knoxville plays role in Santiago Vescovi's decision to return to Vols

When he is able to have talks with the head coach, a big thing that is emphasized is building connections with the rest of the coaching staff, as well.

There is a lot that goes into being a basketball coach outside of the Xs and Os and on-court adjustments. The remainder of the staff have been mentors in these areas.

"He's really just told me to pour into the coaching staff that he has hired around him here," said Hurst. "And talk to guys like (assistant coach Gregg Polinksy) when it comes to recruiting and what that looks like. Scouting, what he looks for in players. Just to help me in the future."

For his current teammates and coaches, they think it's easy to tell he'll be a great coach in the future. His attention to details and understanding of the game is obvious.

However, it was a moment in a recent scrimmage that caught Santiago Vescovi's eye.

Instead of coming in and trying to make highlight plays and prove he belongs on the court, Hurst took the opportunity to improve his teammates. He set up other players and did what he could to help their development.

"I think Grant, to be honest, first of all, he's a great guy," said Vescovi. "And I think he's really smart. He understands basketball. Plays it the right way. He came into practice and you can see that his understanding of basketball is really good. I overheard him on the scrimmage we played Saturday, he told the guys, 'I'm not trying to score. I'm just trying to facilitate the game for ya'll.' I think it takes a lot of courage to say that. We know how hard it is to play at this level like this and for him to be able to realize that my role right here is to be able to facilitate the game for you, I think that's just great and speaks really highly about him."

This didn't surprise assistant coach Rod Clark, either.

It's rare to find a player with this mentality, especially with only two years under their belt. To Clark, this is one of the many reasons he thinks Hurst has potential as a future coach.

"You want someone like that to naturally kind of grow into that," said Clark. "A lot of times that's not the first instinct because nobody is really, not nobody, but it's not a lot of guys that are built like that. But Grant, I'm not surprised because that's who he is. That's why I think he's going to be successful in this game. Number one, because he really wanted to come to Tennessee. He's all Vol, completely. He cares about his teammates. He loves them and wants to see them be really good. He's a giver for sure. I've loved coaching him. I think everyone on this team has loved playing with him. And who he is as a player is kind of a reflection of who he is as a person."

Having a player as almost a second coach is an advantage not many teams have.

Clark even compared Hurst to a player-coach like in the movie 'Semi-Pro.'

"He's got a little Jackie Moon. He's a like a little player-coach," said Clark. "Does a good job of it. He does a good job, I give him compliments on it. He comes up to me at practice all the time. He'll ask me, 'What do you think about this. Jo probably should have done this instead. That was a great pass from Z, you see how he did this?' I talk basketball with him all the time. And honestly, we talked about it before he came here. I wanted us to have that type of relationship and him to have that type of relationship with the coaching staff."

All of these reasons have caught the head coach's attention, as well. Barnes recognizes the hard work Hurst is putting in.

This is why he has faith that the walk-on will accomplish his goals.

"A guy that, I think he means exactly what he says," said Barnes. "You can tell that he has a really good keen basketball IQ because he doesn't practice a lot but when he does get out there, like the past weekend when we scrimmaged, he played more in that scrimmage than he probably has all combined in practice and he was terrific. He really helped our team. I think it's because when he's on the side, he's been observant. He's paying attention. There's no doubt in my mind that if he continues to pursue coaching he'll be very successful."

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