Tennessee baseball's Logan Chambers enters transfer portal

Tennessee is losing one of its top utility players to the transfer portal as Logan Chambers has entered the portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Chambers appeared in 19 games this past season, making six starts. He hit .240 with a triple, a home run and three RBIs.

Chambers is the latest Vols player to enter the transfer portal, joining pitchers Chase Burns and Hollis Fanning, who have also done so in recent days.

Vols head coach Tony Vitello recently spoke about what it’s been like trying to juggle the transfer portal, both with players leaving and coming in.

“There’s always going to be circumstances where a guy feels like maybe he’s being wronged or cheated, maybe innings or at-bats or role on the team,” Vitello said on John & Vince on SportsTalk. “Then there’s going to be guys too we just don’t see or have a vision of how it’s going to be a successful baseball career for a kid. So you might make a suggestion.

“But for us it’s just as much on the recruiting end with the portal thing. You hate to bring a guy in that’s not going to fill a significant role for you. … The one thing I’ll say and brag on our program, you look at the guys that we’ve brought in out of the portal, it’s been for a specific purpose for us and them and it’s worked out really, really well for all of them.”

Tony Vitello discusses NIL, how it impacts offseason roster decisions

When it comes to the recruiting trail, Tony Vitello obviously wants to get the best players available. But the Tennessee coach knows there’s more to the recruiting process than just selling the program.

NIL has become a key component across the college athletics landscape, and Vitello has seen both sides of the spectrum. Although Tennessee has had some top talent commit — remember, Reggie Crawford committed to the Vols before becoming a first-round pick — Vitello said he doesn’t expect to land a big name if they only care about making NIL money.

That said, Vitello noted there’s plenty of room to improve in that space considering how competitive the SEC is.

“I can now speak on Reggie Crawford. He was probably the No. 1 guy last summer and he was a first-rounder,” Vitello said on 99.1 The Sports Animal this week. “He sat my office and said, ‘Coach, don’t even worry about talking about it. If I wanted money, I’ll sign in the draft.’ Which, of course, he did on us because he is a first rounder. Hard to say no to that.

“For our guys that we bring in, if it’s the No. 1 category, we’re just not going to get them. And I’m not trying to tell you where the moral compass [points]. We certainly have as good of a fan base as anybody. We can fit 105,000 in one stadium. Could we get better in that area for our kids? I’m willing to bet. It’s like any situation. It’s [the] SEC. And if you can compete, then you probably need to keep doing better or you’ll get eaten up by the sharks.”