Keon Johnson, the top-ranked basketball player in the state of Tennessee for the 2020 recruiting class, announced Tuesday evening that he was committing to Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers.
The 6-foot-5 guard became the second player to pledge to the Vols for 2020, joining 6-6 four-star small forward Corey Walker. Johnson is ranked as the No. 6 shooting guard in the country and the No. 31 overall player, and he chose Tennessee over Ohio State.
Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest also were among his suitors.
As a junior at Webb-Bell Buckle, Johnson averaged 24.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.4 blocks per game. He shot 58% from the field, made 64 3-pointers at a 38% clip and shot 65% from the free-throw line. His team went 27-7, falling in the Division II-A state semifinals.
He had 11 games of at least 30 points, made at least three 3-pointers 10 times and made at least five on three occasions.
He would help ease the loss of senior guards Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.