The first day of the fall signing period for the 2020 basketball recruiting cycle was cause for celebration for Tennessee’s men’s basketball team this week.
On Wednesday, Tennessee officially added signatures of their three commitments in the 2020 class. Tennessee officially announced the signing of four-star small forward Corey Walker a little after 1:00 PM Eastern, and both five-star guard Jaden Springer and five-star guard Keon Johnson posted photos of themselves signing their National Letters of Intent with Tennessee earlier in the day.
Next Up ?▶️
? Corey Walker
?Hastings, Florida
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Welcome to the family, Corey ✊?#GBO / #ComeFlyWithUs pic.twitter.com/btehYTBTEx
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 13, 2019
Five-star guard Keon Johnson just officially signed with Tennessee. The Vols have the No. 4 overall recruiting class. pic.twitter.com/gml1luOBZ5
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) November 13, 2019
Five-star senior Jaden Springer just signed his NLI to join the Tennessee Volunteers, i’m told. Stacked class Rick Barnes has brought in for the 2020 class, led by Springer.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) November 13, 2019
UPDATE (2:43 PM Eastern): Tennessee has officially announced the signing of five-star Keon Johnson.
Next Up ?▶️
? Keon Johnson
?Bell Buckle, Tennessee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Welcome to the family, @iamkeonjohnson ✊?#GBO / #ComeFlyWithUs pic.twitter.com/6IWFYbR4GP
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 13, 2019
UPDATE: (9:00 AM Eastern, 11-14-19): Tennessee has officially announced the signing of five-star Jaden Springer.
Next Up ?▶️
? Jaden Springer
?Charlotte, North Carolina
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Welcome to the family, @jadenspringer11 ✊?#GBO / #ComeFlyWithUs pic.twitter.com/PfzyHszPoM
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 14, 2019
With the signatures of Tennessee’s three commitments, the Vols are well on their way to signing the highest-rated recruiting class in school history.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, all three of Tennessee’s 2020 signees are ranked inside the top-40 overall prospects in the 2020 class. Jaden Springer is the No. 16 overall recruit and No. 4 shooting guard in the 2020 cycle, Keon Johnson is the No. 23 overall prospect and No. 5 shooting guard, and Corey Walker is ranked No. 36 overall and the No. 8 small forward.
Right now, Tennessee’s 2020 class is the No. 4 recruiting class in the country. The only teams with recruiting classes ranked higher than Tennessee’s are Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The Vols currently have a higher-rated recruiting class than defending champion Virginia (6th), national title runner-up Texas Tech (5th), Kansas (11th), Louisville (16th), Michigan (22nd), Florida (23rd), Michigan State (27th), Gonzaga (29th), Auburn (37th), Syracuse (41st), LSU (57th), UCLA (70th), and Memphis (NR) among others.
Tennessee has never signed two five-star prospects in the same class per the 247Sports rankings. Assuming both Springer and Johnson keep their five-star status through the spring, that will change in the 2020 cycle.
The highest-rated classes in school history came in both 2006 and 2008 when the Vols signed the No. 6 class on 247Sports. Tennessee will likely still sign at least one more prospect this cycle in the spring signing period, and other schools will sign other recruits between now and the spring signing period, so the class rankings are still subject to change.
As of now, however, Tennessee’s 2020 class is the highest-rated signing class in program history.
Per the 247Sports rankings, Springer, Johnson, and Walker are three of the nine highest-rated recruits to ever sign with the Vols. Springer ranks third and only trails NBA star Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson. Johnson is right behind Springer at No. 4, and Walker ranks ninth, just behind Duke Crews and Ramar Smith and just ahead of Tyler Smith and Jordan McRae.
One Response
The defense’s play was impressive to say the least. The young men on the offensive side blocked, ran and passed with precision. I do believe you could have flipped a coin too choose which qb would play and for how long. We have 4 good candidates, but I must say young Guarantano has learned to throw to a route and not just an open receiver. His improvement is staggering. This Guarantano would have us at 7-5 now. Again I have to congratulate the coaches and the defense as I feel they turned the game in our favor. We have 2 more games and both will be tough. I pray all of our players are healthy and prepared for each game , one at a time. Take care of the ball, execute the game plan without penalties and we should go bowling with a 7-5 record. GA. State doesn’t want any of this Tennessee team now and BYU we want a rematch….GBO