Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Thursday that 6-7 wing Davonte Gaines (pronounced: duh-VON-tay) has signed and submitted a National Letter of Intent and plans to enroll at UT as a freshman in the summer of 2019.

Gaines had been verbally committed to the Vols since July of 2017.

After graduating from Health Sciences Charter School in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, in 2018, Gaines is spending a year at Hargrave Military Academy Prep in Chatham, Virginia. Gaines was coached by Ty Parker at Health Sciences, and he now plays for head coach Lee Martin at Hargrave.

According to 247Sports.com, Gaines was rated as the No. 5 overall prospect in his class in the state of New York before transitioning to Hargrave. He is a two-time New York State Sportswriters Association Class B All-State first-team selection (2017 and 2018).

“Davonte has a tremendous future ahead of him,” Barnes said. “We’re all excited about the opportunity to work with him, because he has so much potential. What makes him special as a player is his versatility. He has excellent size and length and is an excellent passer and playmaker, which will improve our overall skill on the perimeter. Of course, he also has the ability to score. This season at Hargrave Military Academy will help him immensely.”

Nicknamed “The Ticket,” Gaines logged a triple-double in the first game of his senior season and followed that up with a rare quadruple-double in a victory over Cleveland Hill, during which he totaled 20 points, 13 steals, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

As a junior, Gaines earned second-team Buffalo News All-Western New York honors after propelling the Falcons to their first-ever Section VI Class B championship and the semifinals of the state tournament. He finished the year with averages of 17.7 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 4.0 blocks and 3.0 steals per game.

One of his many highlight reel slams during that 2016-17 junior campaign—specifically, a second-quarter transition jam against Lackawanna—was voted “Best Dunk” at the Sixth Annual Buffalo News Boys Basketball Awards in April of 2017.

Gaines averaged 15.4 points per game as a sophomore in 2015-16. He played his AAU ball with Parker’s New Heights program, based out of New York, as well as the Corey Graham Elite program.

Several New York natives have enjoyed successful collegiate careers at Tennessee, including Hall of Famer Bernard King, current Washington Wizards President/General Manager Ernie Grunfeld, All-American center Howard Wood and current Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris.

Like Gaines, Tennessee associate head coach Rob Lanier and assistant coach Desmond Oliver both are Buffalo natives.

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Five Tennessee players scored in double figures, fueling the No. 12/12-ranked Lady Vols to a 73-46 win over UNC Asheville Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Senior guard Meme Jackson led Tennessee (2-0) with a team-high 13 points, while redshirt senior forward Cheridene Green tallied 12 on 5-of-6 shooting to help UT improve to 2-0 on the season. Sophomore point guard Evina Westbrook chipped in 11 points, while sophomore forward Rennia Davis returned from missing Sunday’s game to contribute 10 points and eight rebounds, as did freshman guard/forward Rae Burrell.

UNC Asheville (0-2) got 14 points from Sonora Dengokl and 12 from Ali Trani, who was 4-of-9 from beyond the three-point line.

Although shooting 39 percent from the floor on the night, Tennessee hit at a 66.7 percent clip (8-of-12) in the fourth quarter to close the game.  The Lady Vols out-rebounded the Bulldogs 46-24 on the glass, including 21-8 on the offensive end, and outscored UNCA 27-2 in second-chance points. UT also forced 20 turnovers by the visitors.

After opening the game shooting one-of-seven from the field, the Lady Vols bounced back with an 11-0 run and held UNC Asheville to a four-minute scoring drought. Green tallied eight of Tennessee’s first 13 points to start things off, as the Lady Vols forced three turnovers in the run to go up 15-2. Both teams finished without a shot made for the final three minutes of the quarter, with Tennessee leading 21-8 after 10 minutes of play. Bulldogs senior guard Sonora Dengokl finished with seven of UNC Asheville’s eight first-quarter points.

Green was the first Lady Vol in double-digits for points after a layup at the 7:29 mark of the second quarter. Tennessee started the frame with a 7-0 run and held the Bulldogs to yet another scoring drought, this time spanning over four minutes. UNC Asheville’s first field goal in seven minutes came at the halfway point of the second quarter.

The Lady Vols capped the half with a 13-0 run, ending an opening 20 minutes in which the Bulldogs spent over 11 minutes in scoring droughts. Green registered a team-high 10 points, with Tennessee taking a 44-16 lead at the half.

UNC Asheville started the third quarter on a 15-6 tear, as the Lady Vols remained scoreless for three minutes. Tennessee also went without a field goal for the final six minutes of the quarter, turning the ball over five times during that span. A last-second three-pointer from the Bulldogs closed the Lady Vols’ gap to 52-34 going into the final quarter. Tennessee was ultimately outscored 18-8 in the third quarter and finished out the period shooting 25 percent from the field.

The Lady Vols hit their first five shots to register an 18-5 run to start the fourth quarter. Despite shooting 0-for-7 to start the game, Davis found her stroke and propelled Tennessee with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting to start the final stanza.

The Lady Vols connected on seven of their first nine shots to open the final quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-12 to finish the game. Davis, Jackson and Westbrook had all but two of Tennessee’s points in the final 10 minutes.

Up Next: Tennessee will host Florida A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m. when UT will be holding its annual Knox County School Day promotion in which fans who donate two new, unopened school supply items will receive one complimentary ticket to the game. The contest is available for streaming via SECN+.

Double Digit Runs: Tennessee went on a pair of double-digit offensive runs vs. UNCA, turning in an 11-0 surge in the first quarter and a 13-0 spree in the second. UT now has four runs of 10+ points this season in two games.

Count To 10: On defense, Tennessee forced its fifth 10-second backcourt violation of the season with one against the Bulldogs in the first quarter. The Lady Vols have now forced more violations than they did all last season (4).

Meme For Threeeee: Senior Meme Jackson led Tennessee in three-point shooting, going 3-of-5 from behind the arc against UNC Asheville. The outing marks the seventh time in her career she’s hit 3+ treys in a game and it was the 27th time she’s led UT in threes.

-UT Athletics