The commitment of 5-star guard Josiah James took the college basketball world by surprise. Very few penciled in James as a future Volunteer, but his Wednesday announcement made it clear that he felt comfortable in Knoxville and saw himself achieving great things at Tennessee.
In addition to the boost it gives to the team, James’ commitment also has many rethinking what head coach Rick Barnes is capable of on the recruiting trail. To this point, Barnes had not secured a commitment from a player ranked any higher than 108th overall. Tennessee also started slow in the 2019 class and looked like it was running out of time to fill a hole on the roster.