On Monday, Tennessee’s football program announced the jersey numbers for the rest of UT’s 2020 signing class that are now on campus. On Tuesday, Tennessee’s men’s basketball program followed suit.
The official Tennessee basketball Twitter account posted a graphic featuring the jersey numbers of the Vols’ three 2020 signees and Sacred Heart grad transfer forward EJ Anosike. All four players returned to campus earlier this month along with the rest of the team — with the exceptions of Uros Plavsic and Santiago Vescovi, who are still overseas and waiting until next month to come to Knoxville.
Five-star guard Jaden Springer will don the No. 11, five-star guard Keon Johnson will wear No. 45, four-star forward Corey Walker Jr. will wear No. 15, and Anosike will be wearing No. 55 for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
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?? Anosike#ComeFlyWithUs pic.twitter.com/zsHMSK7IV6— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) June 23, 2020
For Springer, he’ll be wearing the same jersey number that Kyle Alexander wore for four seasons from 2016-19. The No. 11 is also the same number Tony White brandished for four years from 1984-87. White is currently third place in school history in career points scored with 2,219.
Interestingly, Johnson’s No. 45 jersey will be the first time a Vol has worn that number in over four decades. The last men’s basketball player at UT to wear the No. 45 was John Snow from 1972-74.
EJ Anosike will be wearing the same jersey number his sister, Nicky, did while she played for the Lady Vols. It’s also the highest jersey number any Vol basketball player has ever worn in school history, and Anosike is just the second Vol since 2002 to wear it (Dominic Woodson, 2015). Only five other UT men’s basketball players have ever worn the No. 55 before Anosike, with Charles Hathaway (1996-2001) being probably the most notable.
The updated heights and weights of Tennessee’s four newcomers have also been added on UT’s website. Anosike is listed at 6-foot-7, 245 pounds as a forward. Keon Johnson measures in at 6-foot-5, 186 pounds wile Jaden Springer is 6-foot-4, 204 pounds. Corey Walker Jr. is listed at 6-foot-8, 219 pounds.
Victor Bailey Jr., who sat out last season after transferring from Oregon, will be eligible this season and will wear the No. 12 in his redshirt junior campaign. He’s listed at 6-foot-4, 179 pounds.
