Tennessee basketball: Vols guard Jalen Johnson enters transfer portal
As Rick Barnes brings in an elite recruiting class, Tennessee basketball is losing a player. Volunteers guard Jalen Johnson has entered the transfer portal.
After four years with Tennessee basketball, it appears Jalen Johnson’s redshirt junior season will have been his last on Rocky Top. The 6’6″ 196-pound guard’s name appeared in the NCAA transfer portal, according to a report on GoVols247.
Johnson was part of the Vols’ incredibly overachieving 2016 recruiting class, which included Grant Williams, Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and John Fulkerson. Kwe Parker was also in that class, and all six guys were three-stars.
Parker transferred after a year, and Johnson took a redshirt before riding the bench for two years as Williams, Bone, Bowden and the previous class, which had Admiral Schofield, Kyle Alexander and Lamonte Turner, formed the bulk of the action for Tennessee basketball. He was clearly patiently waiting for his chance.
This year, Johnson likely figured to join Fulkerson and Yves Pons in becoming a rotational player after the losses of Alexander, Williams, Schofield and Bone. Even with Josiah-Jordan James, there was room for him to be an impact player.
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However, his minutes remained limited. Even as Turner had season-ending shoulder surgery and James missing SEC play due to injury, Johnson never saw significant action. Santiago Vescovi emerged ahead of Johnson as the premiere guard to replace Turner, and big man Uros Plavsic was cleared to play as James got hurt.
Because of all that, Johnson still averaged fewer than 16 minutes a game, and he only started twice, averaging just three and a half points a game. With everybody on the roster except Bowden likely to return plus a top five recruiting class that is loaded at the two and three positions, there will be little room for Johnson to make an impact next year.
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As a result, Johnson’s transfer makes sense. Tennessee basketball likely won’t have a place for him in 2020-2021, and given his status, he’ll probably be able to go somewhere and play immediately. Given his ability to shoot the ball, as he was 36 percent from three and 80 percent from the free throw line for his career, there will be a spot for him somewhere.