Tennessee has already signed an elite point guard in their 2019 class thanks to five-star Josiah James giving UT his signature in the fall signing period. The Vols are in on several guards in the 2020 cycle, but only one of them projects as a pure point guard at the next level. And that player will be visiting Tennessee this season.
Jalen Cone is a four-star point guard out of Walkertown, North Carolina. He’s visited Tennessee before, and UT’s coaches have been involved with his recruiting for a while and have gone and watched him play multiple times. According to an interview with StockRisers.com, Cone listed the Vols as one of the teams recruiting him the hardest and says he’ll take a visit to see Tennessee when they host Kentucky in Knoxville on March 2nd.
“I will be visiting Tennessee on March 2nd for when they host Kentucky,” Cone said. “I haven’t planned any other visits. I’m trying to set up some official visits though.”
Cone also added that he plans on making his college decision sometime before his senior season starts later this year.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Cone is the No. 77 overall player and No. 9 point guard in the 2020 cycle. He has serious interest from Louisville, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Yale, and others.
Cone measures in around 5-foot-11 or 6-feet tall, but what he lacks in elite size, he more than makes up for with his play on the court.
The dynamic point guard is a scoring machine, and he has regularly topped the 30 and 40-point threshold as a sophomore and junior in high school. He has a very good pull-up jumper and has a nice, compact stroke on his shots that gives him a quick release. Cone has very good ball-handling skills and is very tough to guard thanks to that and his speed. He’s not just an offensive force, though; Cone has some pretty good defensive skills and awareness. He can also leap out of the gym. Cone can sky for blocks and can dunk the ball at his smaller stature.
Here are some highlights from a game this past season where he dropped 50 points on a team:
In 20 games as a junior so far this season, Cone has averaged 25.9 points and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 72 percent from the field and 49 percent from three according to MaxPreps.
Tennessee is pursuing several guards in the 2020 cycle, but Cone is the only true point guard prospect high on UT’s board in the upcoming cycle. Five-star shooting guard Jaden Springer and No. 1 in-state player and four-star shooting guard Keon Johnson are the Vols’ top two options at guard.
