Kim English has been on Rick Barnes’ staff less than two weeks, but his recruiting ties are already paying off for the Vols after his hiring.
Four-star power forward Justin Lewis out of Baltimore released his list of top schools on Friday night, and he included Tennessee among his “final 10” teams. The Vols were joined by UConn, Maryland, Marquette, UCF, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Seton Hall, Ohio State, and West Virginia.
Tremendously Blessed To Announce My Final 10 Schools ??! #GodsPlan pic.twitter.com/ZF6Sj87Hyu
— Justin Lewis (@jusbuckets_5) April 20, 2019
Lewis, who plays for Baltimore Polytechnic Institute now after starting his high school career at Calvert High School, hasn’t really been on Tennessee’s recruiting board up until the hiring of English, and that’s because English has recruiting ties to the northeast. He’ll handle a lot of recruiting efforts for the Vols up in Baltimore and the Washington D.C. area, and it looks like he’s already adding highly-rated prospects to the Vols’ list.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Lewis is the No. 132 overall prospect and No. 23 power forward in the 2020 class. The regular 247Sports rankings have him rated much higher, placing him 104th overall and 16th among power forwards.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound athlete from Towson, Maryland holds offers from nearly two dozen programs and has already visited several schools. He’s already taken an official visit to UCF and Maryland and has also unofficially visited Marquette.
Lewis plays for Team Melo in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League. Team Melo is sponsored by NBA star Carmelo Anthony and was formed in his hometown of Baltimore.
The biggest thing that stands out about Lewis is his length. He knows how to use it effectively on both offense and defense, and he’s a very athletic forward who can sky for dunks and cut through the lane with ease. He has a nice stroke on his jumpers that’s compact and smooth. As a defender, he uses his long arms to frustrate opponents and swat shots near the bucket.
Not only does Lewis play in the EYBL, but he also participated with the USA Men’s Junior Basketball team. Lewis was also named to the Second-Team ALL-USA Maryland Basketball Team by USA Today Sports.
Tennessee has one commitment in their 2020 class already, and that’s from five-star small forward Corey Walker out of Jacksonville, Florida. The Vols are also heavily involved with five-star guard Jaden Springer, five-star center Walker Kessler, four-star forward PJ Hall, and four-star guard Keon Johnson in the 2020 cycle.
