KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Thursday the signing of Hofstra transfer guard Darlinstone Dubar.
The 2023-24 Second Team All-CAA designee will join the Volunteers in 2024-25 with one year of eligibility remaining.
“We are pleased to welcome Darlinstone and his supportive family into the Tennessee basketball program. He is already an accomplished collegian who will add a lot to our team,” Barnes said. “Darlinstone is a true competitor and you know what you will get from him every day. A versatile player who can excel at multiple positions, he is an excellent 3-point shooter who can also knock down midrange shots and finish at the rim. Darlinstone brings toughness and a strong work ethic, both of which will mesh well with the players already in our locker room.”
A 6-foot-8, 211-pounder, Dubar comes to Tennessee after three seasons at Hofstra and one at Iowa State. He owns 1,359 points and 580 rebounds in his four-year career, good for averages of 11.7 and 5.0 per game, respectively.
Dubar owns a career field-goal clip of 52.3 percent on 8.7 attempts per game, including a 38.1 percent 3-point ledger on 3.5 shots per contest. He has scored in double figures 72 times in 116 outings, with 15-plus points on 41 occasions and 20-plus in 16 affairs. In addition, he possesses 10 double-doubles.
The Charlotte, N.C., native is coming off his finest collegiate campaign in 2023-24, averaging 17.8 points 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game. He shot 53.9 percent from the floor on 12.5 attempts per outing, including a stellar 39.9 percent on 5.5 3-pointers per game.
Dubar scored in double figures in 31 of the team’s 33 contests, each of which he started, while notching 16-plus points in 21 of them, 20-plus in 12 and 24-plus in seven. He twice scored 30 points, first doing so on 12-of-16 shooting against Buffalo in Estero, Fla., on Nov. 20, 2023, and then on an 11-of-14 clip at Stony Brook on Jan. 22, 2024, adding 11 rebounds.
Additionally, Dubar registered eight double-doubles in 2023-24, as well as made multiple 3-pointers on 23 occasions, with four-plus six times. He led Hofstra to a 20-13 record and a third-place finish in the CAA at 12-6.
In the Pride’s game at Duke on Dec. 12, 2023, Dubar scored 24 points on 7-of-11 3-point shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. Eighteen days later, he amassed 23 points on a 10-of-17 field-goal ledger at St. John’s.
Dubar led the CAA in field-goal percentage, while placing sixth in scoring, ninth in 3-pointers per game (2.21), No. 10 in rebounding and No. 10 in blocks per game. He also placed sixth in minutes average and ninth in defensive rebounding (5.21).
Only six players in the country, including Dubar, posted at least 585 points, 220 rebounds, 45 assists, 35 steals and 30 blocks this past season. The others were Providence’s Devin Carter (BIG EAST Player of the Year), Cleveland State’s Tristan Enaruna (First Team All-Horizon League), Duke’s Kyle Filipowski (consensus Second Team All-American), Morehead State’s Riley Minix (Ohio Valley Player of the Year) and Utah State’s Great Osobor (Mountain West Player of the Year). Of that group, only Dubar had fewer than 50 turnovers and/or shot over 38.0 percent from deep, while just he and Carter made 70-plus 3-pointers.
In 2022-23, Dubar averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for Hofstra, shooting a dazzling 40.4 percent from long range. His play aided the Pride to a 25-10 mark and a share of the CAA regular season title at 16-2.
In his first year at Hofstra, Dubar put up 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, helping the Pride go 21-11 under first-year head coach Speedy Claxton, including notching a 13-5 league record to place third.
Dubar began his college career at Iowa State, averaging 2.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. He started seven contests for the Cyclones in 2020-21.
A graduate of Scotland Campus in Pennsylvania, Dubar placed No. 150 in Rivals’ class of 2020 recruiting rankings. He played for B. Maze Elite on the AAU circuit.
Dubar, who is considered the No. 45 player in the transfer portal by On3 and ranks No. 53 according to ESPN, is the second newcomer set to join Tennessee in 2024-25, alongside fellow Charlotte native Bishop Boswell, a four-star high school guard.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
