Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Wednesday that Five-star PG Josiah-Jordan James has signed and submitted a National Letter of Intent and plans to enroll at UT as a freshman in the summer of 2019.
James—currently a senior at Porter-Gaud School in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina—is a national top-20 prospect according to Rivals (No. 14), 247sports (No. 14) and ESPN (No. 20) and is the highest-rated prep basketball player ever to come out of the South Carolina “Lowcountry.”
The 6-7, 200-pound point guard has helped lead Porter-Gaud to three state championships and also was a member of the United States’ team that won gold at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. He is coached at Porter-Gaud by John Pearson.
“Josiah has a great disposition as a true point guard to lead,” Barnes said. “We think he’ll fit right into our culture and what we’re trying to do. He’s already made a great connection with our current players, so much so that it almost feels like he’s been with us for a while. He’s a guy that we expect to make an immediate contribution and that we’ll look to, even as a young player, to bring some leadership qualities to our program.”
James announced his verbal commitment to Tennessee in September. He is the highest-rated prospect to sign with UT since current Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris signed with the Vols in November of 2009.
The state of South Carolina’s highest-rated basketball prospect in the Class of 2019, James has led Porter-Gaud to a combined 75-9 combined record over the last three seasons, including three consecutive SCISA 3A championships.
According to one ESPN recruiting analyst, James boasts “elite perimeter size and a terrific physical profile. He can already impact the game in a multitude of ways but may be just scratching the surface of his potential on both ends of the floor.”
James played his AAU ball with the Charleston-based TMP program under coach Antoine Saunders.
James hails from a tight-knit, basketball family. His father, Kurt James (Michigan State), as well as uncles John James III (Ball State), Kevin James (Alabama State), Anthony Fletcher (Hawai’i) and Noel Gilliard (Furman) all played college basketball. His mother, Sonya Brice, married to Curtis Brice, is a former Division I basketball official. Josiah’s older brother, K.J. James, exhausted his collegiate eligibility at Valdosta State last season after beginning his career at High Point.
