French guard Clarence Massamba arrives in Knoxville to join Tennessee Basketball

Clarence Massamba has arrived in Knoxville to officially begin his career with Tennessee Basketball. The 6-foot-5 French guard committed to and signed with the Vols in April but was delayed in his move to the United States after playing international basketball.

Massamba , listed at 6-foot-5, 185 pounds on Tennessee’s updated roster, is one of two foreign additions for Tennessee in its 2025 signing class, which also includes Israeli shooting guard Ethan Burg. Head coach Rick Barnes updated the timeline of the two international arrivals when he met with reporters in July.

bienvenue Clarence 🏡 pic.twitter.com/l7jpCxAWKo

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) August 17, 2025

“We expect (Massamba) to be here (when) school (starts),” Barnes said at the time, “and he might come over early. He could get here early. He’s still doing some things with his national team, and we’re expecting to be here when we get back.”

“Same thing,” Barnes said when asked about Burg. “He’s still with his national team going through tryouts And we expect him to — we’ll see how far he can go with that. 

Clarence Massamba: 44.6% FG, 34.1% 3FG last season

Massamba signed with Tennessee out of AS Monaco Basket, the Monaco-based professional basketball club.

“We are happy to welcome Clarence and his family to the Tennessee basketball program,” Barnes said in a press release announcing the signing. “Once we identified Clarence as a player of interest, we immediately became excited about his impressive upside.”

Massamba averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game during the 2024-25 international season, playing mostly for Espies Monaco, AS Monaco’s U21 team. He shot 44.6% from the field and 34.1% from the 3-point line. 

“He is a long, athletic, versatile guard,” Barnes said, “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.”

Tennessee’s 2025-26 roster has nine new players

Massamba and Burg are part of a roster overhaul that also included three additions from the NCAA Transfer Portal: Louisiana Tech guard Amaree Abram, Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Carey.

Tennessee signed four other prep prospects in its 2025 recruiting class in five-star Nate Ament, a consensus top-five player in the class, as well as four-star guard Amari Evans, four-star center Dewayne Brown and three-star point guard Troy Henderson.

“Clarence has a nice feel for the game and an excellent basketball IQ,” Barnes said. “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.”