Rick Barnes officially has his point guard in the 2015 class. Tennessee confirmed that 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard Lamonte Turner has signed his Letter of Intent, and will join the Vols for the 2015-16 season.
“Lamonté had his choice of several outstanding college programs, and he chose Tennessee because he believes in our vision for this program,” Barnes said in a release. “He shoots the ball extremely well, makes great decisions on the court, and I love his poise. We’re excited to help him develop, and I think Vol fans are really going to enjoy watching him grow.”
The Harvest, Ala., native finished his prep career at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and after re-classifying between the 2015 and 2016 classes a couple times, he settled on being a 2015 signee, committed to Barnes and the Vols in late April, and made it official with UT announcing his signing on Tuesday morning.
Turner will have a chance for immediate playing time as the Vols look for help at point guard after converted PG Josh Richardson graduated following the 2014-15 season. Walk-on Braxton Bonds, who ended up at UT and sat out a season after originally signing a scholarship with Liberty, is the only other true PG currently on the roster.
Turner was ranked as high as the No. 56 overall player in the nation in the 2016 class by Rivals.com before his final re-classification to 2015.
He becomes UT’s fifth official signee in the 2015 class, joining center Kyle Alexander (Milton, Ontario), forward Ray Kasongo (Toronto, Ontario), guard Shembari Phillips (Marietta, Ga.) and forward Admiral Schofield (Zion, Ill.). Barring more attrition, the Vols still have one open scholarship for the 2015 roster.
Rankings:
247Sports: ★★★; No. 133 overall in the nation
ESPN.com: ★★★★; No. 33 PG in the nation
Rivals.com: ★★★
Scout.com: ★★★
Video:
