Tennessee basketball adds elite PF/C Cade Phillips to 2023 recruiting class

It’s pretty clear Rick Barnes is going for length when looking at the Tennessee basketball 2023 recruiting class. Just over a week after picking up three-star power forward Tobe Awaka, who could reclassify for 2022, he has added another post player.

Alabama prospect Cade Phillips has now committed to the Vols. Phillips, who has attended Jacksonville High School in Calhoun County, Ala., and Westbrook Christian High School in Rainbow City, Ala., which is in Etowah County, is a four-star across every service except 247Sports, where he is a three-star.

Standing at 6’9″ and weighing in the range of 200 to 210 pounds, Phillips is listed as a power forward across every service except for ESPN, where he is listed as a center. He announced his commitment to Tennessee basketball Thursday afternoon on Twitter.

Given his size, profile and the fact that he hails from Appalachia, Phillips likely will draw immediate comparisons to John Fulkerson, who just graduated from UT. However, he actually comes with a lot more hype behind his recruitment than Fulky did.

The Vols could still have Olivier Nkamhoua, Uros Plavsic and Jonas Aidoo in 2023-2024, but one or more of them is likely to be gone. On top of that, Nkamhoua and Plavsic will have to be gone by 2024, so no matter what, there will be a need for Phillips pretty quickly.

According to Grant Ramey of GoVols247, Phillips’ uncle is former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bodie Croyle. His grandfather, John Croyle, played for Bear Bryant at Alabama, and his mother, Reagan Croyle Phillips, played basketball for the Tide. As a result, it was a coup for UT to land him. Here’s a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Phillips has a good bit of athleticism and knows how to use his length, but what stands out is his ability to score off the dribble from the top of the key and the high post. That’s a huge advantage for a post player like him, and developing under Barnes while already having that skill makes his potential to through the roof.

Taking that into account, Tennessee basketball clearly got an elite pickup in Phillips. The Vols still need more length heading into this year, but Barnes continues to show he’s not going anywhere in the future. He’s now got multiple options to replace the guys who will leave in the post soon.