Clarence Massamba has officially joined Tennessee basketball.
The French guard arrived in Knoxville on Aug. 17, the day before the fall semester began as coach Rick Barnes’ roster got one step closer to completion.
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The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists during the 2024-25 season, which he spent mostly with Espies Monaco, AS Monaco’s U21 team. He shot 34.1% on 3-pointers.
Massamba committed to UT in April. He spent two years playing at The Rock School in Gainesville, Florida, before returning to France.
Ethan Burg is the final player who has yet to join the Vols. The Israeli guard earned a spot on the Israeli national team to compete in the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket Championships. Israel will play their first five games from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4, which means Burg won’t arrive at Tennessee until early September at the earliest.
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Barnes indicated in July that the Vols expected Burg to see how far he could go with the national team before he came to UT.
Burg has three years of eligibility to play at Tennessee based on the NCAA’s ruling on his standing. The 6-foot-3 guard spent the past two seasons playing professionally in Israel, which meant he lost one year of NCAA eligibility.
The 22-year-old played the past two seasons with Bnei PenLink Herzliya in Israel. He averaged 11 points, shooting 32.9% on 3-pointers. He shot 37.6% on 3-pointers last season, while averaging 11.1 points.
ROSTER: Tennessee basketball’s roster is set for 2025-26. What to know about Rick Barnes’ Vols
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Tennessee has nine newcomers on its roster, including Massamba and Burg.
The Vols added senior guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Amaree Abram along with junior forward Jaylen Carey through the transfer portal.
UT signed five players in the 2025 class, which ranked No. 13 nationally.
Five-star prospect Nate Ament is the highest-ranked recruit in program history as the No. 4 recruit nationally. Tennessee signed four-star forward DeWayne Brown II and four-star guard Amari Evans in November. Three-star guard Troy Henderson signed in April. Henderson and Ament played AAU basketball together with Team Loaded 17U.
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The Vols return senior forward Felix Okpara, junior forwards Cade Phillips and JP Estrella and sophomore guard Bishop Boswell. Guards Grant Hurst and Campbell Duncan round out the roster.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Clarence Massamba: Tennessee basketball guard arrives, joins Vols
