University of Tennessee head men's basketball coach
Rick Barnes announced Tuesday the signing of Amaree Abram.
A guard who earned All-CUSA Honorable Mention status this past season, Abram comes to Rocky Top from Louisiana Tech. He has one season of collegiate eligibility left.
"Our entire coaching staff is excited to welcome Amaree and his family to Rocky Top.
We wanted to find a guard with collegiate experience and to get someone who has already performed well in the SEC is a bonus," Barnes said. "Amaree is a high-level athlete with quality defensive ability who can really shoot the ball from 3-point range. He takes pride in guarding the opponent's best offensive player, which is a mindset we love here at Tennessee. Amaree is a mature young man with leadership skills who loves basketball and we think he is a strong fit for our program."
During his junior campaign, Abram averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 32.1 minutes per game for the Bulldogs, whom he aided to a 20-12 record. He started all 32 affairs, shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 37.3 percent beyond the arc and 84.8 percent at the line.
Abram scored double-figure points in all but nine of his appearances at Louisiana Tech and had fewer than eight points just four times. He reached 14 points in 12 contests, with 17-plus in six and 20-plus thrice. His season high of 23 came Nov. 9, 2024, at UT Arlington, as he went 8-of-14 overall, including 5-of-8 from deep.
A 6-foot-4, 195-pounder, Abram made multiple 3-pointers 22 times, with at least three in half of those and four-plus in four contests. He also grabbed five-plus rebounds in 12 outings, reaching eight on four occasions.
The Port Arthur, Texas, native spent his sophomore campaign, 2023-24, at Georgia Tech. Battling through injury issues, he appeared in 10 contests and notched four starts, averaging 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
In 2022-23, Abram competed at Ole Miss and was one of the top freshmen in the SEC. He averaged 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 21.0 minutes per game. Abram appeared in all 33 games and made 22 starts on the year.
Abram scored in double figures eight times as a freshman, dropping 17-plus on five occasions and reaching 20 twice, with both on neutral courts against Power Five foes. He poured in a career-best 26 points Nov. 24, 2022, versus Stanford in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., shooting 12-of-18 from the floor and hitting both his 3-point attempts.
Overall, Abram is averaging 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals in 24.4 minutes per game across his three-year college career. He owns a 35.9 percent clip from 3-point range on 4.1 attempts per game.
Abram has scored in double figures 31 times in 75 collegiate appearances, with 14-plus on 18 occasions and 20-plus five times. He has connected on multiple 3-pointers 33 times, with four-plus in six appearances.
A graduate of Southern California Academy in Castaic, Calif., Abram was a consensus four-star, top-100 prep recruit. He finished as high as No. 65 in the 247Sports rankings, including No. 11 in California and No. 11 among point guards. Abram placed No. 76 on the On3 Consensus list, including No. 13 in the Golden State and No. 10 at the point guard position.
As a senior, Abram averaged 16.0 points and 7.0 assists per game, including dropping 38 in a victory over 1-of-1 Academy. The McDonald's All-American Game nominee led his team to the Saint James Invitational title and claimed All-Tournament distinction.
Tennessee has eight prior letter winners from the state of Texas, including two-time team captain Brandon Crump (2001-05) and two Barnes pupils in Victor Bailey Jr. (2020-22) and Jacob Fleschman (2019-20). The Volunteers also had a pair of Texans on the 2024-25 roster in freshman walk-ons
Campbell Duncan and
Gavin Paull.
Abram is rated a four-star transfer prospect by both 247Sports and On3, the latter of which slots him No. 18 among combo guards.
Tennessee now has three transfers slated to join the team in 2025-26, as Abram follows
Jaylen Carey from Vanderbilt and
Ja'Kobi Gillespie from Maryland. In addition, the Volunteers is set to welcome four high school players in
Nate Ament,
DeWayne Brown II,
Amari Evans and
Troy Henderson.