Rick Barnes’ quest to bring elite basketball talent to Knoxville hasn’t gone well so far. His formula of adding lesser known prospects and developing them is hard to argue with, however. Still, Barnes would love to add some NBA caliber talent into his equation at Tennessee.
His latest target has been five-star guard Josiah James. The 6-6 combo guard is a consensus top 15 player in the 2019 class. Tennessee made the initial cut of nine and has now made the final cut to three. Clemson Tigers and Duke Blue Devils join the Vols in his final three, according to 247 Sports.
His decision to commit comes after James spent the weekend visiting Clemson. He visited Tennessee the weekend before that.
James will announce his decision this Wednesday, September 17th, live from his high school in South Carolina. According to 247’s crystal ball projections, Clemson is the heavy favorite to land James. The Tigers have received several projections over the last two days.
Tennessee currently has two commitments in their 2019 class. Davonte Gaines and Drew Pember currently make up the group. Five-star guard Jalen Lecque was in town over the weekend, taking an official visit.
We’ll wait and see on James Wednesday, but it seems like Clemson is in the better spot — at least in the eyes of the experts.