Tennessee basketball’s 2020 recruiting class may be best ever

A top five class has been secured for the men’s Tennessee basketball Volunteers.

Securing elite recruiting classes is unusual but not unheard of for Tennessee basketball. However, getting top five classes is generally out of the picture. So with Rick Barnes getting such a class, which Grant Ramey of GoVols247 reported as becoming official earlier this week, we have to analyze if this is the greatest of all time on Rocky Top.

Of course, you don’t win games with recruiting classes. However, they certainly make things easier.  The Vols’ class is made up of two five-star guards, Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, and two four-star wing players, Corey Walker Jr. and Malachi Wideman.

In the Rivals era, only three classes can compete with this. All came under Bruce Pearl. The Vols secured five-star Tobias Harris and two four-stars in Trae Golden and Jordan McRae in 2010. They got a five-star in Scotty Hopson and four-stars in Phillip Jurich and Renaldo Woolridge, along with three-stars Bobby Maze and Daniel West, in 2008. That one is close in numbers but not better.

The one that best competes is Tennessee basketball’s 2006 class. Coming off Pearl’s splash of a first year, the Vols secured two five-stars in Duke Crews and Ramar Smith, a four-star in Wayne Chism, a three-star in Josh Tabb and a two-star in Marques Johnson. Here’s the catch: What will Wideman do?

Although he is a four-star in the class, Wideman is also a four-star wide receiver. There’s a chance he plays both sports, but we can’t confirm that yet. If he does join the basketball program, then this class gets the edge. Otherwise, the 2006 class gets the edge, although that class didn’t pan out with Crews and Smith being dismissed after their sophomore seasons.

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So then we have to go back to the Jerry Green years. Kevin O’Neil secured the best class of that group in 1996, when he lured Isiah Victor, Charles Hathaway and C.J. Black to the class. Those guys were waiting when Green took over in 1997, and they exploded because O’Neil got Tony Harris for him as well.

After that, Green lured a stellar class in 1999 with Marcus Haislip, Ron Slay, Jon Higgins, Terrence Woods and Harris Walker. However, only Slay and Higgins were top 100 players, while three, maybe four players are top 100 guys in this class.

Taking all that into account, the 1996 class is the only one that can compete. However, we can’t exactly measure how highly rated those players are, but it’s a safe bet they wouldn’t pan out to multiple five-stars if adjusted to today’s rating.

As a result, at least in the modern era of recruiting, Barnes may have secured the greatest recruiting class in Tennessee basketball history. Whether or not these guys pan out, though, remains to be seen.