Tennessee Basketball: Vols future backcourt set with Keon Johnson pickup

Tennessee Basketball continues to keep their program in the top-tier of the SEC on the recruiting trail, picking up top-30 guard Keon Johnson.

Unless you’re a blue blood program like Kentucky or Duke, you have to do very well with the top basketball high school prospects in your respective state, especially when they are top-50 good. Tennessee Basketball was able to do that recently, landing the top player in the state in the 2020 recruiting class in Keon Johnson.

Ranked No. 31 overall according to 247sportsComposite, Johnson is a 6’5 natural shooting guard with a defensive tenacity that scouts wave about. He has both a high ceiling and floor in terms of his potential impact at the next level. Johnson has the size, skillset, shooting and athleticism to create his own offense and can be a top scorer for the Vols once he arrives on campus.

Rick Barnes and company will need that for the 2020-21 season. They already have to deal with losing two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams along with another All-SEC talent in Admiral Schofield. The team also loses their starting point guard Jordan Bone, who averaged 13.2 ppg and a team-leading 5.8 apg. They’ll be okay in the backcourt with rising seniors Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner next season but will have to rely on a whole new group of guards afterwards.

Tennessee has already done good work in bringing in new talent before the Johnson commitment. They landed five-star combo guard Josiah-Jordan James for this upcoming season (keep in mind that there’s a small chance that he becomes a “one and done”) and have Oregon point guard transfer and former top-100 recruit Victor Bailey on the roster. Barring a waiver, he’ll be sitting out this upcoming season but will be needed depth for the Vols the following year.

With Johnson along with 6-6 wing Corey Walker on board, Tennessee Basketball now has two top-35 commits in the 2020 class. They could use another guard to shore up their depth in the 2020-21 campaign or find a quality frontcourt asset to provide balance. The Vols are once again on track to have a team good enough to compete for not only another NCAA Tournament bid but also a potential top-4 SEC finish.

With new head coaches with elite recruiting ties entering the league, finding and landing top-tier prospects will be even harder than ever. Barnes and the coaching staff seems to be more than up to the task. Johnson isn’t the top-10 player like the guys Kentucky gets but will have just as, if not more of an impact for the Vols in the future.