Tennessee basketball again a finalist for 2022 five-star F and LSU decommit Julian Phillips

Back in September, Tennessee basketball made the top four along with the USC Trojans, Florida State Seminoles and LSU Tigers for Missouri prospect Julian Phillips. However, the wing who is initially from Blythewood, S.C., then committed to LSU.

Well, the Will Wade firing led to his decommitment and reopened his recruitment. Now, the five-star across the board out of Link Year Prep in Branson, Mo., this time has the Vols in his top five schools, and he has set a new commitment date for May 12.

Joining Tennessee basketball on Phillips’ list are still USC and Florida State along with the Auburn Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks. The Overtime Elite League and NBA G-League are also options. He announced all six of these possibilities on Twitter.

Standing between 6’7″ and 6’8″ and weighing in the range of 175 to 210 pounds, Phillips is listed as a small forward everywhere except 247Sports, where he is listed as a power forward. Either way, that level of versatility on the wing is valuable in Rick Barnes’ system.

If Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi come back, adding Phillips would be huge. James and Phillips together would make for elite size on the wing and give Rick Barnes a lot of versatility with how he wants to play.

On top of James and Phillips, Jahmai Mashack could emerge on the wing too, and remember, he was a four-star recruit in 2021. Given the questions UT has at the four with Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferring and Olivier Nkamhoua returning from injury, Phillips could address multiple potential issues.

Currently, the Rivals Future Cast has LSU as a majority favorite to land Phillips, but they didn’t make this cut. Auburn is a plurality favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast and On3, and 247Sports has no predictions. As a result, Tennessee basketball could definitely be in play.