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Basketball Vols’ highly rated signing class shows promise based on projections

AP photo by Gregory Payan / IMG Academy's Jaden Springer, shown during a Hoophall Classic game against Oak Hill Academy on Jan. 20 2019, in Springfield, Mass., is the highest-rated prospect in the Tennessee Vols' signing class for the 2020 recruiting cycle.
AP photo by Gregory Payan / IMG Academy's Jaden Springer, shown during a Hoophall Classic game against Oak Hill Academy on Jan. 20 2019, in Springfield, Mass., is the highest-rated prospect in the Tennessee Vols' signing class for the 2020 recruiting cycle. AP photo by Gregory Payan / IMG Academy's Jaden Springer, shown during a Hoophall Classic game against Oak Hill Academy on Jan. 20 2019, in Springfield, Mass., is the highest-rated prospect in the Tennessee Vols' signing class for the 2020 recruiting cycle.

By Gene Henley 4 min read

The Tennessee men’s basketball program’s signing class for the 2020 recruiting cycle was No. 4 in the country on the 247Sports.com composite, which combines the rankings of 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.com.

The highly rated trio of Jaden Springer, Keon Johnson and Corey Walker will enter Knoxville with high expectations because this marks only the third time in recent history the Volunteers have had a signing class with as many as three players ranked among the nation’s top 70 prospects. The others were in 2006 – with Duke Crews at No. 25, Ramar Smith at No. 32 and Wayne Chism at No. 41, per 247 – and 1996, with Charles Hathaway at No. 3, C.J. Black at No. 66 and Isiah Victor at No. 67, according to HoopGroup.com.

But how high should those expectations be? For this, the Times Free Press went back and looked at the previous four players who had the same ranking at the same position, then averaged it out for the study.

photo File photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey / Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes added to a promising roster for 2020-21 with a signing class made up of three players rated among the top 70 college prospects in the nation.

Springer (No. 3 combo guard): Rated the No. 14 overall prospect in the country, Springer (6-foot-5, 195 pounds) was the last of the Vols’ three signees back in November. He is a tough, physical, athletic guard who defends well and can create shots for teammates. Being the third-best combo guard has been a really, really good spot for prospects in the past four seasons, and in this case the averages have been fairly consistent. The player rated there last season – Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey – averaged 14 points per game, the best in the sample. The low end was Arizona’s Kobi Simmons, who averaged 8.7 points and is the lone one-and-done prospect in the group. If Tennessee can get similar averages to those Stanford’s Daejon Davis put together in his first season (10.7 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds) from Springer as a freshman, there will be no complaints. Averaging things out suggests the numbers will be different, but only slightly.

Projections: 11.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists.