Tennessee basketball: Vols get second 2020 five-star in Jaden Springer

Five-star shooting guard Jaden Springer committed to Tennessee basketball. He is the Volunteers’ third top 40 commitment for 2020.

A little over 12 hours after Tennessee football had its biggest recruiting haul in one night, Rick Barnes made sure that Tennessee basketball would not be outdone. So on Wednesday afternoon, he picked up his second five-star commitment and third overall commitment for 2020.

Guard Jaden Springer joins fellow five-star guard Keon Johnson and four-star small forward Corey Walker Jr. as the next player in the Vols’ upcoming recruiting class. The pickup puts UT’s in the top five for 2020 on Rivals.

At 6’6″ 200 pounds, Springer committed to Tennessee basketball out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and is originally from Charlotte. ESPN announced via Twitter that he confirmed his commitment to the Vols with Paul Biancardi.

Springer is the highest-rated recruit in this class, ranked No. 15 nationally and No. 4 at his position on Rivals. He committed to the Vols over the Memphis Tigers and Michigan Wolverines, making him an even more impressive get for Barnes since both of those schools have former NBA head coaches they have hired specifically for recruiting purposes.

Although Johnson is also a five-star and both are shooting guards, Springer is one inch taller and weighs about 15 more points. That’s probably the difference right now, as Johnson on Rivals is ranked just No. 18 and No. 6 at his position. Here is a look at a few of Springer’s highlights.

As you can see, some of his best highlights are on defense, which is something Rick Barnes will love. He can run the floor, guard the perimeter and play smart in the post. But his offensive skills set include solid vision on the fast-break, a big deal for a shooting guard, and most importantly, he can run the floor and stretch the court with his own shooting.

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In AAU ball, Sprinter played for former Vol Bobby Maze’s team. And he further demonstrated his shooting ability by hitting 10 three-pointers in eight games while shooting 37 percent from the outside, according to RealGM. So he’s another solid scorer in this recruiting class.

One interesting point about the class, though, is that after building his team around an inside game the past few years with Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, Rick Barnes appears to be focusing on a more guard-oriented program in the future. After all, Walker is only 6’7″ 205 pounds, and we already mentioned Johnson’s size and the fact that he’s also a shooting guard.

Five-star combo guard Josiah-Jordan James was the star if this past year’s recruiting class, which did have three forwards but nobody over 6’8″ and one forward who is more of a wing player or could play guard. So Barnes is clearly shifting the focus of his program for the future.

Whatever his plan is for Tennessee basketball, though, it’s working. Everybody who thought the Vols would be the swan song for Barnes in the twilight of his years is being proven wrong in dramatic fashion, as he now enters this year with a very young team and has an elite class coming in next year.