Bishop Boswell played the last two seasons of college basketball at Tennessee. He does not appear to be a big fan of the head coach who recruited him, Rick Barnes.
The rising junior point guard could only laugh at his most recent comments.
Meanwhile, his former college basketball program completely rebuilt its entire roster through the transfer portal in wake of his departure. The Volunteers have already moved on!
Who is Bishop Boswell?
17 schools offered Boswell a scholarship out of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound combo guard ranked as the No. 13 player at his position and the No. 97 overall player in the recruiting Class of 2024 as a four-star prospect.
He ultimately committed to Tennessee over Xavier, Missouri, Wake Forest and Georgia, among others.
Bishop Boswell was a key piece of the Vols’ lineup last season as a starter in 33 of 34 games. His 6.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game were crucial to success but his defense was even more so.
He may not always stick out on the box score but Tennessee made the Elite Eight in 2026 in large part because of Boswell’s defensive prowess. It was always a challenge.
“When he goes out there, he’s going to have the toughest matchup every night,” Ethan Burg said.
That was true. Barnes always put him on the best offensive player as a lockdown defender.
However, Bishop Boswell decided not to stick around for another season. The rising junior entered the transfer portal shortly after March Madness. He landed at the University of Maryland.
Rick Barnes wants more offense.
Boswell did not announce a reason for his departure but it seemed like a fairly amicable split. Neither side of the breakup had any ill will toward the other. They both decided to move on. Fair enough.
And then Rick Barnes took a shot at Bishop Boswell. Kind of.
Tennessee lost six players to the transfer portal. It added Wake Forest standout Juke Harris, Belmont guard Tyler Lundblade, Cal guard Dai Dai Ames, Loyola (Chicago) center Miles Rubin, Notre Dame forward Jalen Haralson, VCU combo-guard Terrence Hill Jr. and Kennesaw State forward Braedan Lue to replace them. The Volunteers landed the No. 2 portal class in college basketball and No. 1 in the SEC. They are also set to welcome the No. 15 high school recruiting class to campus over the summer.
When asked about his new roster, Barnes told RTI Low Down that he “wanted more offense” for 2026-27.
“We didn’t want to really rely on two or three guys… We don’t want to coach these guys on every play – we want some guys that can go create offense.”
Bishop did not appreciate his comments. The Maryland transfer responded with only one emoji: 😂
Although the comment has since been deleted, the internet lives forever. What appeared to be a friendly split between Bishop and Tennessee is now personal. Unfortunately, they won’t play during the regular season. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Bishop dropped 20+ points on his former team in March Madness?