Tyler Lundblade was the first transfer to commit to Tennessee basketball in April but he'll be the last player to take the court as the Vols begin preseason practices.
But before the former TCU and Belmont guard can knock down 3-pointers for the Vols, he'll have to recover from an injured back. In August, Lundblade underwent surgery
and he'll be limited to start preseason practices, but believes he's close to a full return."No one wants to be hurt, especially going into a new place," Lundblade said during the first day of preseason practices on Sept. 22. "And because it’s my last year, you want to be in a grind, in the mix all summer with all the guys. But injuries are part of it. Thankfully, it’s nothing major. I’ll be back. So I’m looking forward
to being on the tail end of it.”
The back injury that kept Lundblade, the 2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, sidelined for nearly all of summer workouts and had been nagging him since he arrived on campus in April. He had exhausted his non-surgical options before choosing to undergo surgery in August.
"I did a steroid, I did an injection and it didn’t help and with the timetable, it was kind of surgery now or never," Lundblade said. "And luckily it was a pretty non-invasive, 45 minute clean up surgery and it’s helped a lot. I feel really good and I’m really happy that’s the route we went.”
Right now, his recovery is limited to a little bit of form shooting, stationary ball-handling and running on an underwater treadmill. He expects to be able to move up to running on flat ground soon.
For now, Lunblade has to take in practice from the sidelines, which he called "the hardest part" of his injury recovery.
But he's working to stay as involved as possible in huddles and during film study. Coach Rick Barnes treats Lundblade, who's in his sixth year as a college basketball player, like an assistant coach sometimes. They will review plays together during practice and talk X's and O's during down time.
"I’ve been able to draw up things that we did at Belmont, go back and forth and pick his brain about what he thinks of certain things," Lundblade said. "At most places, you can’t do that. But it’s been really cool with coach to be super involved in that sense."
Lundblade was the centerpiece of a Belmont team that went 26-4 and won the the MVC regular season title. He averaged 15.6 points per game while shooting 40.6% from 3-point range last season and is a 43.5% 3-point shooter on 6.3 attempts per game for his career.
He won't be the first offensive option in a backcourt loaded with talent via the transfer portal, at least not in every game, but Lundblade can easily see himself fitting in seamlessly with the Vols when he does finally get healthy.
"I feel like I can fit into any system and watching practice every day, I can get the feeling that if we had someone like me on the floor, the court’s going to be spread out a lot more or we’re going to get a lot more out of our pick and rolls, offensive rebound situations," he said. "So I definitely do see a need and a spot for our team.”
Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee basketball's Tyler Lundblade is progressing after back surgery
