Tennessee basketball: Jordan Bone is showing he’s one of the best PG’s in college hoops

The Tennessee basketball team is one of the best in the country thanks in large part to Jordan Bone. He is becoming one of the best point guards in college hoops.

One of the best things about being a fan is when your team wins. In the SEC, where it just means more, beating a rival does wonders for the season’s success and fan happiness.  However, for Tennessee basketball fans, beating rivals like Kentucky and Florida aren’t the only goals of the season.

Everyone involved, players, coaches, and fans, have their sights on more than merely sweeping Kentucky again, even though that would be quite a feat since it hasn’t happened since the 1976-77 seasons.

There are aspirations for a deep run in March and dare we say, even a National Championship. That’s not an absurd statement. The Vols have been a consistent top-five team all season and at times have played like the best top in the nation.

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Sure, you can point to the 20.1 points per game from Grant Williams. He’s been on an absolute tear scoring a will. He gets post position better than any college player I’ve seen. When he gets the ball in the post one of two things are going to happen. He is going to score or get fouled; it’s that simple, the guy doesn’t miss.

Then, there is Admiral Schofield, who continues to improve his game. The senior forward is averaging almost five more points per game and is shooting near 45 percent from the three-point line. He’s taken over games this season, just ask Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr.

Both Williams and Schofield were recently projected in a mock draft by Bleacher Report as first-round draft picks in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft. They certainly deserve all the praise and then some, however, flying under the radar is point guard Jordan Bone, who has been a difference maker this season.

He is consistently tapping into his endless potential and guiding the Vols’ offense the way Rick Barnes imagined since arriving at Tennessee in 2015.

Bone is averaging a career-high 14.3 points per game which ranks third best on the team and 14th best in the SEC. Moreover, he is doing so with a notable 3.4 assists-to-turnover ratio.

In fact, Bone has accounted for a double-double in two of the last three games scoring 24 points with 11 assists against Samford and 16 points with 10 assists against Tennessee Tech. In the span of those three games, Bone has a 6.5 assists-to-turnover ratio.

One of Bone’s best skills is his uncanny ability to get to the rack. Last season there were games that no opponent could stop him. He took open lanes to the rim, and once the double team crashed in, there were open teammates, or he pulled up for a mid-range jumper.

However, other games, Bone settled for highly contested outside jumpers, which is never made sense because he has one of the quickest first steps in the country.

This season getting to the rim in transition has been Bone’s forte. He is shooting 45 percent from the field, up from the 39 percent last season. He is also taking five to six more shots per game. The percentage increase proves he is taking greater care of the basketball by taking smarter shots.

We can rave about Williams and Schofield all day long, but even they will tell you it’s a team effort to win at the level they expect. Bone is the one that gets the team going and will be a big piece to the puzzle in helping the Vols reach their goal of being crowned National Champions.