Four-star center Jonas Aidoo commits to Tennessee basketball

As expected following the addition of assistant coach Justin Gainey, Tennessee has landed four-star center Jonas Aidoo just days later. The 6-foot-11 center made his announcement on Wednesday morning.

Aidoo is the fourth commitment in the class for Tennessee, joining five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, four-star shooting guard Jahmai Mashack and French shooting guard Quentin Diboundje. Tennessee has also added a commitment from former Auburn sharpshooter Justin Powell.

Tennessee was in the hunt for Aidoo before he ultimately committed to Marquette. However, a coaching change re-opened his recruiting process, and Aidoo ended up following assistant coach Justin Gainey to Knoxville.

Aidoo is the 60th ranked player in the class of 2021 and the 7th ranked center prospect, per 247Sports. He’s the third ranked player in the state of North Carolina. Aidoo held several big-time offers, including West Virginia, Alabama, Kansas and others.

“Aidoo is a lengthy post player who has great hands and legit 7-foot size. First and foremost, Aidoo is a very good, instinctive defender with the ability to open his hips and drop in coverage and protect the rim, blocking shots with either hand. On the offensive end of the floor, Aidoo has range extending out to three in pick and pop or trail big situations. (Via Rivals)

Rick Barnes is looking to replace Yves Pons, who opted to forgo a second senior season. E.J. Anosike, Corey Walker Jr. and Drew Pember transferred out, and John Fulkerson is still deciding on whether or not he will return for a sixth year. That leaves Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic, and now Jonas Aidoo.

Tennessee is currently trending for 2022 five-star power forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who is rumored to be reclassifying into the 2021 class.

It’s been a wild offseason to this point, and we’re not quite done yet — but the pieces of the puzzle are starting to become clearer.