Four-star class of 2026 wing Billy “Blanco” White III unofficially visited Tennessee basketball over the weekend as the Vols knocked off South Carolina to conclude the regular season.
White toured the campus and Tennessee’s facilities before the game, saying Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center is probably his “favorite” arena that he’s been to at this point in his recruitment. But it was what White observed when the game began that stood out most to him.
“I liked the way their coaching staff interacts with their players. They never get too crazy but they’re never too calm. They tell you what you need to hear and do in that moment,” White told RTI. “The coaches how they interact with each other. I really like that. Especially being right behind the bench, I got to see how they talked to everybody. I really was drawn to it.”White ranks as a four-star recruit and the No. 49 player in the 2026 recruiting cycle according to the 247sports composite rankings.
A Corpus Christie native, White also ranks as the No. 5 player in the state of Texas and the No. 19 small forward in the 2026 cycle.Tennessee was in early on White when Barnes and assistant coach Rod Clark watched him at a 3SSB circuit even in South Carolina last summer.
From there, Clark and White have built a strong relationship and Tennessee was the first high major to offer White.“I had five offers at the time and they were all mid major offers and Coach Clark called me when I was on the road and offered me,” White said. “I have a real special relationship with him because that was my first high major offer with it being a program like Tennessee, that’s a high-level program so just with our conversations, he really likes my game and Coach Barnes and the staff really likes my game and how I could fit there.”
White is a high-level shooter, scoring 18.8 points on 59% shooting from the field and 47% shooting from three-point range in his junior season at Veterans Memorial High School. On the defensive end, the 6-foot-7 wing has great versatility and prides himself on being able to guard one-through-four with his 6-foot-10 wing span.
