Tennessee basketball: Vols most likely to leave early in 2021

Size: 6’5″ 186 pounds; Hometown: Shelbyville, Tenn.

And now we get to the highly touted five-star prospects who helped Tennessee basketball have a top five class for 2020. Keon Johnson, an in-state top 20 product out of The Webb School, was recruited specifically for his abilities as a shooting guard.

Johnson was a late bloomer who began to emerge last August during AAU play. Throughout his senior season, he only improved from there, getting rapidly better. Because of his ability to improve so much and so quickly as a five-star recruit, his ceiling is clearly through the roof, which may make him the most exciting player on this year’s team.

However, there are a couple of things that could hold him back early on. For starters, the Vols are so loaded at guard that if Rick Barnes does play big, Johnson is likely to come off the bench. Even if he plays small, though, Johnson could still potentially come off the bench. Now, Johnson is certain to see significant action, but both things are possibilities.

On top of that, while he’s already a defensive specialist, it’s clear that Johnson has more to prove offensively. His jump-shot got better over time, but that’s likely to plague him his first year in college. Combine it with him having to share minutes with so many guys, and he may not do enough to draw the eyes of NBA scouts to leave after his freshman year.