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Tennessee is looking to make one more addition to the 2019 class, assuming at least one of Jordan Bone or Grant Williams decides to stay in the NBA Draft. With Bone currently seeming more likely to do that than Williams at this point, the Vols have zeroed in on 2020 point guard Jalen Cone.
Rick Barnes and his staff have offered the four-star guard an option to reclassify into the 2019 class, which would allow him to join the team for the upcoming season. Tennessee wasn’t the only team to offer the reclassification option to Cone — Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have as well.
As Tennessee continues their pursuit of Cone, Rick Barnes is in Walkertown, North Carolina on Saturday visiting in home, according to Jake Weingarten of Stock Risers.
Tennessee’s Rick Barnes will now have an in-home visit tomorrow morning with four-star junior Jalen Cone, a source told @Stockrisers.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) April 20, 2019
Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams will conduct his in-home a few hours after that.
Tennessee one of the teams that has given Jalen Cone the 2019 option https://t.co/eEutPtggEk
Cone is a 5-11 point guard who ranks 83rd in the 247 Composite Rankings for 2020. With Tennessee potentially losing Bone to the NBA, they’ll need another guard for depth behind Lamonte Turner during the 2019-20 season. Five-star guard and 2019 signee Josiah James could potentially run some point as well.
Looking ahead and projecting a bit, Tennessee doesn’t have an answer at the position once Turner exits the picture after next season. Cone could have a clear path to being a multi-year starter in Knoxville.