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After an exit in the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament and then seeing their coach nearly leave for UCLA, it’s been a rollercoaster ride of emotions for Tennessee basketball fans lately. That ride isn’t going to stop until Grant Williams and Jordan Bone make their final decisions on the NBA Draft.
Both Bone and Williams have already declared, but each left the door open for a potential return. That puts Rick Barnes and his staff in an interesting spot. They’ve got to come up with backup plans in the event that one or both leave.
Which leads us to Jalen Cone. The four-star point guard out of Walkertown, North Carolina is a part of the 2020 class and has visited Tennessee a few times. However, according to Jake Weingarten, Cone has an offer to reclassify and join Tennessee’s 2019 class.
Tennessee has given Four-star junior Jalen Cone the option to reclassify and join their 2019 class, a source told @Stockrisers. As of now, he will weigh his options and hasn’t decided on anything.https://t.co/DLKoAEaApM
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) April 12, 2019
From Bone to Cone? That would seem to be the primary backup plan if this report is true. I’m not sure you can draw any concrete conclusions here regarding Bone. This more so feels like Tennessee getting a potential plan in place, just in case.
Tennessee would still have senior Lamonte Turner ready and more than capable of filling Bone’s shoes. But adding Cone would replace the depth that they would lose. Incoming five-star freshman Josiah James may also run some point in 2019-20.
Cone currently sits as the 83rd ranked player in the 2020 class, according to 247 Sports. The 5-11, 163 pound prospect is the 12th ranked point guard in the class.