Not that long ago, it would have been understandable if you thought Kurott Garland’s time at Tennessee was over. After all, the redshirt freshman entered the NCAA transfer portal just as Tennessee was heading into training camp.

Despite the appearance of Garland wanting out at Tennessee, Jeremy Pruitt refused to shut the door on the Georgia native returning to the practice field.

“When they go into the portal, it doesn’t mean they’re going to transfer,” Pruitt said during his first media availability of training camp. “We’ll let that situation play out, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Turns out, Pruitt knew what he was doing as Garland likely found his options far less appealing in the portal than he the alternative of sticking it out on Rocky Top and potentially helping an inexperienced group get better with the season opener against Georgia State quickly approaching.

Garland was a 2018 signee and appeared in four games last season for the Vols.

Ben McKee of Rocky Top Insider and Knoxville-based radio program “The Swain Event,” shared the following video of Garland back on the practice field on Tuesday for the first time this training camp: