Daniel Vieira-Tuck will play for Memphis basketball at some point, but it’s not going to be this season.
The 6-foot-3 guard has signed with the Diamond Doves of Overtime Elite, which is where he’ll spend the 2024-25 campaign, as first reported by 5StateHoopReport’s Ani Umana. Vieira-Tuck remains committed to Memphis, however, and still intends to be a Tiger when his college career begins.
A Dallas native, Vieira-Tuck spent last season playing professionally in Portugal—his mother’s home country. The 19-year-old was largely a reserve for S.L. Benfica, which finished second in the Portuguese Basketball League.
He also played for Portugal’s U20 team during last year’s FIBA World Cup, where he averaged 14.5 points per game. Portugal finished No. 6 in FIBA U20 Division B.
Vieira-Tuck’s delayed arrival isn’t too devastating for Memphis, which would’ve likely redshirted him had he joined its roster this year. Penny Hardaway’s club—currently ranked No. 25 on barttorvik.com—has added eight scholarship players via the transfer portal this offseason.
PJ Haggerty (6-foot-3) averaged 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for Tulsa last year, which helped him earn the AAC Freshman of the Year award.
Tyrese Hunter (6-foot) averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 assists for Texas in 2023-24. He also won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award at Iowa State in 2021-22, and is 6-3 in NCAA Tournament games.
Colby Rogers (6-foot-4) scored 16.4 points per contest while shooting 40.9% from 3-point range (7.1 attempts per game) for Wichita State. PJ Carter (6-foot-5) averaged 9.5 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 41.5% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range in 31 appearances for UTSA.
Moussa Cisse (7-foot) and Tyreek Smith (6-foot-8) averaged a combined 3.1 blocks per game last year for Ole Miss and SMU respectively. Dain Dainja (6-foot-9) averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in limited minutes for an Illinois team that made the Elite Eight last season.
Nick Jourdain (6-foot-9) started 25 of 32 games for the Tigers in 2023-24, and put up 6.5 points and 4 rebounds per contest. He is Memphis’ only returning scholarship player.
The Tigers, who now have three open scholarships remaining, also welcome guards Baraka Okojie—a sophomore transfer from George Mason—and Jared Harris—a 4-star high school recruit.