Tennessee basketball: Four-star PG Jalen Cone won’t be a Vol
Four-star point guard Jalen Cone won’t be playing for the Tennessee basketball team next season after his announcement on Thursday afternoon.
We can’t say the news of Jalen Cone committing to the Virginia Tech Hokies is surprising. The 5-foot-11 point guard made his decision on Thursday afternoon picking the Hokies over Tennessee, Texas A&M, and a few other schools.
Rick Barnes and the Tennessee basketball program were the first to offer Cone the opportunity to reclassify to the 2019 class from 2020. After the Vols, other teams including the Hokies offered Cone the same deal.
Tennessee did make his final six schools on Sunday afternoon, the same time Cone announced he was reclassifying to 2019, but it never felt like Barnes and crew had much of a chance. It almost seemed like Cone kept the Vols in his top-6 only because they were the first to offer reclassification.
It’s tough to tell what role Cone would have played next season, but he was a four-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was the No.8 point guard and No.6 player from North Carolina.
However, not all is lost with Cone deciding to play for Virginia Tech. The Vols received a significant commitment from Oliver Robinson Nkamhoua on Tuesday morning. The addition of Robinson Nkamhoua moved Tennessee’s 2019 recruiting class into the Top-25.
There are still a few pieces that have yet to fall into place. Grant Williams and Jordan Bone have entered their names in the NBA Draft, and both have been invited to the combine which starts next week in Chicago.
Despite not getting the Cone, the Vols should be fine in the backcourt with Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bowden and the new addition of Josiah-Jordan James who is a four/five-star recruit.
Next. 10 Vols who should redshirt in 2019. dark
Derrick Walker entered his name in the transfer portal last week, so there is still an opportunity the Vols could add some more players that are looking to transfer or reclassify.