Tennessee basketball recruiting: 5-star 2019 guard Josiah James commits to Vols

Tennessee basketball secured its most highly touted recruit of the Rick Barnes era. Five-star 2019 combo guard Josiah James has committed to the Volunteers.

After building his team through a collection of developing three-stars, Rick Barnes is now going for the big fish. Tennessee basketball received a major commitment Wednesday morning from a five-star recruit for its 2019 class.

Josiah James, a 6’6″ 190-pound combo guard out of South Carolina, announced his commitment to the Vols in a ceremony at his high school Wednesday, according to reports. Ranked the No. 14 player nationally on Rivals, the Porter Gaud School prospect out of Charleston, S.C. is the Vols’ third commitment for 2019, and their first who is above a three-star.

With four-star center D.J. Burns’s commitment for 2018, Tennessee basketball is clearly looking to the state of South Carolina to build up its future. In James, the Vols get a very versatile player who can defend and run an offense.

Scoring is probably James’s biggest weakness at this point, but you have to figure that Barnes will work with him on that. Right now, he mainly uses his size in the paint to get buckets, but if he can develop some range, his talent would then be off the charts. Here is a look at a game in which he had a near triple double.

As you can see, James has great vision, and he has great versatility. His size and athleticism are great for the college game. He is already a slasher, and as a left-handed shooter, he’ll have an offensive advantage over lots of defenders.

Simply put, Tennessee basketball got a very good player in James who will likely make a huge impact on the Vols when he joins in 2019. With nine guys who are a junior or a senior on this team, the Barnes is likely to lose at least three major contributors. So James is a huge pickup for Rocky Top, and he will help keep the momentum going.