Jonas Aidoo played for Tennessee basketball at Arkansas last season. He is playing for Arkansas at Tennessee this season.

The former Vols forward returned to Knoxville on Saturday as a Razorback after transferring following a breakout season at Tennessee.

“We obviously have a lot of love and respect for Jonas,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said at the Big Orange Caravan in Chattanooga in May. “We’ve seen him grow in our program. But again, he felt like maybe he wanted to play a different style, a different way.”

The no. 1 Vols (13-0) host Arkansas (11-2) on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Food City Center.

Aidoo averaged 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 18.6 minutes in his three seasons at Tennessee. The 1.90 meter tall forward averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in the injury-related 2024/25 season.

Jahmai Mashack, who came to Tennessee in the same 2021 recruiting class as Aidoo, said he sees a lot of similarities in the way Aidoo plays at Arkansas. He suggested that Arkansas would use Aidoo more in transition and as a lob threat in pick-and-rolls.

“He’s still the same rebounder I saw him be when he was here,” Mashack said. “So nothing that I expect different from him. … Competing against someone like Jonas will be an incredible experience.”

Aidoo attempted 15 3-pointers in 36 games with Tennessee last season. He won one of 10 games at Arkansas.

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Aidoo averaged 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds as a junior with the Vols, earning All-SEC honors and landing on the All-SEC defensive team. He had 66 blocks.

Aidoo entered the transfer portal on April 11 and committed to Arkansas on April 29.

He was one of four outgoing transfers. Guard Freddie Dilione V transferred to Penn State, guard DJ Jefferson went to Longwood and forward Tobe Awaka ended up in Arizona. The Vols brought in guard Darlinstone Dubar, guard Chaz Lanier, forward Igor Milicic Jr. and forward Felix Okpara.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @By Mike Wilson. If you like Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription to access everything.

This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Jonas Aidoo: Why did Arkansas switch from Tennessee?