Tennessee basketball signees Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer have been named to the 25-man 2020 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Boys High School Midseason Team, qualifying each of them as finalists for the Naismith High School Boys Player of the Year Award.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club identifies athletes and coaches from around the country who exemplify outstanding talent and success. The Naismith High School Trophy for Boys Player of the Year is among the highest honors a high school basketball player can receive.

Tennessee joined Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina as the only four programs in the nation to have multiple signees make the 25-man Naismith midseason team.

Johnson and Springer join fellow signee Corey Walker Jr. to comprise what ranks as the nation’s fifth-best basketball recruiting class according to ESPN and Rivals.com.

Springer is a 6-4 guard from Charlotte, North Carolina, who is attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He is rated as a top-20 prospect nationally.

Last year, Springer played a key role in leading IMG Academy to the 2019 Geico High School National Championship while averaging 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. IMG Academy is currently ranked No. 2 in the state Florida and 20th in the country.

Johnson is a 6-5 guard out of Shelbyville, Tennessee, who attends The Webb School in Bell Buckle. He is currently rated as the No. 1 overall prospect in the state of Tennessee and is the state’s two-time reigning Division II-A Mr. Basketball. Johnson also is rated as a top-25 prospect nationally.

Before a knee injury late in 2019, Johnson averaged 30.5 points and 10.5 rebounds early in his senior season. He could potentially return to action before TSSAA postseason play.

The competition for the Naismith High School Trophy for Boys Player of the Year continues, as the Atlanta Tipoff Club will further narrow its list to 10 semifinalists early next month. The five finalists are announced on Feb. 20, and the 2020 Boys Player of the Year will be revealed March 10 in Atlanta.

UT Athletics

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee men’s basketball team hits the road for the second time this week, when it takes on Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Nashville. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

Saturday’s game is available on SEC Network, online through WatchESPN, which can be accessed at espn.com/watch and on any mobile device through the ESPN App. Kevin Fitzgerald and Dane Bradshaw will have the call.

Fans can also listen in on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp describing the action.

Last time out the Vols fell in their second road contest of SEC action, falling to Georgia, 80-63, on Wednesday night in Athens. Senior Jordan Bowden paced the scoring for UT, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.

Junior Yves Pons was effective on the glass all evening, pulling in a game-high eight rebounds, while also scoring eight points. Freshman Josiah-Jordan James was also effective, knocking down three of his six attempts from 3-point range, finishing with 11 points.

.A win would give the Vols their fourth consecutive victory inside Memorial Gym and would leave head coach Rick Barnes just one win shy of 100 victories on Rocky Top. A win would also be UT’s fifth straight triumph over Vanderbilt dating to 2018.

Up next, Tennessee returns home to take on Ole Miss inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night. The opening tap is set for 9 p.m. ET and the contest can be seen on SEC Network.

THE SERIES
• Tennessee leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 122-75, dating to 1922. This is the 198th meeting.
• The ‘Dores have a 54-42 edge when the series is played in Nashville, but the Vols have won three straight in Memorial Gym.
• Tennessee has won six of the last seven meetings in this series, including each of the last four.
• These teams will meet again in Knoxville on Feb. 18.

A WIN WOULD…
• Leave Rick Barnes just one win shy of recording his 100th victory as Tennessee’s head coach.
• Extend UT’s win streak over Vanderbilt to five games.
• Give the Vols a 13-3 all-time record when VFL Dane Bradshaw is on the call as the TV analyst.

STORYLINES
• Just 181 miles separate UT’s Thompson-Boling Arena and Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium.
• Vols freshman Josiah-Jordan James and injured Vanderbilt guard Aaron Nesmith were AAU and high school varsity teammates for four years at Porter-Gaud School in their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.
• After being inactive for the first 15 games of the season, redshirt freshman forward Uroš Plavšic was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA on Jan. 14. He scored five points off the bench in his debut Wednesday at Georgia.
• Josiah-Jordan James (.579) and Santiago Vescovi (.500) rank second and fourth, respectively, in the SEC in 3-point percentage during league play. That duo’s 3-point makes account for 26 percent of Tennessee’s total scoring during SEC play.

LAYUP LINES
• Tennessee’s 9.0 3-point makes per game during SEC play lead the league. Through four conference games, 42.9 percent of UT’s total scoring comes from beyond the arc.
• Junior forward Yves Pons has blocked at least one shot in every game this season and ranks second in the SEC and 25th nationally with 2.6 bpg.
• Pons is tied as the SEC leader with 3.3 bpg during league play.
• Tennessee ranks second in the SEC and 19th nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 60.6 ppg.
• Junior John Fulkerson is shooting a team-best .663 from the field while averaging a career-best 11.1 points per game this season.
• Fifth-year senior and preseason All-SEC guard Lamonté Turner announced on Dec. 21 that he will no longer suit up for the Vols due to thoracic outlet syndrome. The Vols are 2-3 without him.

ABOUT VANDERBILT
• Vanderbilt is coming off its third consecutive loss to begin SEC play, as the Commodores lost to Arkansas, 75-55, Wednesday night in Fayetteville.
• First-year head coach Jerry Stackhouse looks to lead the Commodores back to their winning ways in 2019-20 after Vanderbilt finished winless in conference action last year. The 2017 NBA G-League coach of the year brings a host of experience and past NBA playing success to Nashville.
• The Commodores are without the SEC’s leading scorer, Aaron Nesmith, for the remainder of the season. Before getting hurt, Nesmith was averaging 23.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
• In Nesmith’s absence, roles have increased for junior guard Saben Lee and freshman forward Dylan Disu.
• Lee has already been a force for the Commodores. Primarily coming off the bench, he ranks second on the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and first in assists (5.1 apg) and steals (1.4 spg). Lee also ranks 10th in the SEC in scoring during league play, averaging 16.0 ppg during VU’s three SEC contests.
• Disu has been huge on the glass and the defensive side of the floor, averaging a team-best 5.7 rpg while leading Vandy in blocks (1.0 bpg) and ranking second in steals (1.1 spg).
• Vanderbilt is a private research university, founded in 1873. The school is named in honor of New York shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the university with its initial $1 million dollar endowment. Vanderbilt believed his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War.

LAST TIME VS. VANDERBILT
•  No. 5 Tennessee extended its winning streak in Thompson-Boling Arena to 24 games by defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores, 58-46, on Feb. 19, 2019.
•  The win helped Tennessee secure the season sweep over Vanderbilt.
•  The Vols held the Commodores to their lowest scoring output of the season, limiting them to just 32 percent shooting from the field. Clevon Brown was the only Vanderbilt player to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, and he finished with just two points on 1-of-2 shooting.
•  After holding a nine-point edge at half, Tennessee continued to harass Vanderbilt defensively. UT limited the Commodores to just 23.5 percent shooting (8-of-34) in the second half.
•  Offensively, All-American forward Grant Williams led the way with his sixth double-double of the season, posting a game-high 14 points and 11 rebounds.
•  Eight of Williams’ 11 boards came in the second half, including a key offensive rebound with 1:51 on the clock, helping Tennessee salt away the victory.
•  All-SEC wing Admiral Schofield helped close out the victory, as 10 of his 12 points came in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers.
•  Reigning Co-SEC Player of the Week Lamonté Turner finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, while All-SEC guard Jordan Bone posted a team-high six assists to go along with nine points.

MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST VANDERBILT
• Grant Williams (now with the Boston Celtics) erupted for a record-setting performance as the No. 1-ranked Volunteers held off Vanderbilt, 88-83, in overtime in Nashville on Jan. 23, 2019. Williams finished with a career-high 43 points and also tallied eight rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal. The junior forward was 10-of-15 from the field and a program-record 23-of-23 from the free-throw line.
• Josh Richardson (now a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers) helped the Vols rally from two separate double-digit deficits in the second half by scoring 15 of his game-high 22 points in the final stanza to lift Tennessee to a 67-61 comeback win over Vanderbilt in the 2015 SEC Tournament in Nashville on March 12, 2015. In what was the second-to-last game of his career, Richardson also led all players with three steals and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• Dyron Nix (17 points, 18 rebounds) and Doug Roth (10 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles and Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 79-69 in overtime in Stokely Athletics Center Feb. 4, 1987, in Knoxville.
• Dick Johnston made six free throws in double overtime to lift UT to a 77-72 win over the Dores in Nashville on Feb. 2, 1970. Jimmy England led the charge with 27 points, and Bobby Croft had an 18-16 double-double.
• Danny Schultz holds UT’s single-game scoring record against Vanderbilt, as he dropped 35 points on the Dores on Feb. 15, 1964, in Nashville.
• Tennessee All-Century Team member Paul “Lefty” Walther (1948-49) never lost to Vanderbilt during his career as a Vol. The Covington, Kentucky, native helped lead Tennessee to a 4-0 record over the Dores, beating Vandy by an average of 9.8 points.

VOLS SUCCESSFUL ON THE IN-STATE CIRCUIT
• Tennessee has won eight of its last nine games against in-state opponents and is 15-5 vs. in-state foes under coach Rick Barnes.
• Those 15 wins include triumphs over Chattanooga, ETSU (twice), Lipscomb (twice), Memphis, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech (twice) and Vanderbilt (six times).

SO MANY ROSTER MOVES!
•  The biggest storyline of the first half of Tennessee’s season was the unusual abundance of roster moves the team had to work through. A timeline follows…
•  Preseason – The Vols received word that transfer big man Uroš Plavšic’s waiver for immediate eligibility was denied; it was also denied on appeal shortly thereafter.
•  Nov. 20 – It was announced that redshirt sophomore forward Zach Kent decided to step away from the program indefinitely.
•  Dec. 11 – Kent entered the NCAA Transfer Portal (he has since transferred to Delaware State).
• Dec. 21 – Fifth-year guard Lamonté Turner announced that he was ending his UT playing career immediately due to thoracic outlet syndrome.
•  Dec. 28 – 18-year-old, Uruguayan guard Santiago Vescovi arrived in Knoxville and joined the team. He started in his college debut seven days later.
•  Jan. 14 – The NCAA’s Committee for Legislative Relief informed UT that Plavšic’s final appeal resulted in a reversal of the NCAA’s initial decision. Plavsic became eligible to compete immediately (after being forced to sit out the team’s first 15 games).

PONS RIDING BLOCK STREAK
• Yves Pons, the SEC’s second-leading shot-blocker, has blocked at least one shot in every game this season.
• His streak of 16 straight games with at least one block is the longest such streak by a Vol since C.J. Black put together an 18-game streak from Jan. 10, 1998, through Nov. 5, 1998 (spanning parts of two seasons).
• Pons has blocked three or more shots in eight games this season, highlighted by a program-record-tying six-block effort against Jacksonville State on Dec. 21.

TURNOVER WOES UNUSUAL
•  At the midway point of the season, this is the most turnover-prone team of Rick Barnes‘ tenure at Tennessee.
•  These Vols average 14.1 turnovers per game (16.0 in SEC play). Tennessee’s previous high under Barnes was the 2016-17 squad, which averaged 12.5 tpg. It’s the highest average for any Barnes team since his 2012-13 Texas squad averaged 14.8 tpg.
• Upperclassmen are responsible for 55.1 percent of those turnovers (28.9 percent by seniors and 26.2 percent by juniors).
• Freshmen have committed the remaining 44.4 percent of the team’s turnovers.
• To add some context, upperclassmen account for 65.6 of the team’s total minutes played. Freshmen own 33.9 percent of the team’s minutes.

UT Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 24/25 Lady Vols picked up their third-straight SEC win on Thursday, defeating the Gators in Exactech Arena, 78-50.

Junior Rennia Davis, playing in front of family and friends who made the drive over from Jacksonville, led the effort for Tennessee (14-3, 4-1 SEC), finishing the day with 18 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Rae Burrell was also in double digits with 11 points.

Freshmen Lavender Briggs and Brylee Bartram led Florida (11-7, 2-3 SEC) with 11 points each.

Florida scored on its first three possessions to jump out to a 6-2 lead, but Davis and Jordan Horston combined to tie it up at six by the 6:39 mark. Rae Burrell converted on a three-point play to give the Lady Vols the lead at 9-6, but Florida countered with a layup by Williams to pull within one heading into the media timeout. Davis poured in six points coming out of the break and Burrell knocked down a pair of free throws, while UT held Florida without a field goal for the remainder of the quarter. Zada Williams hit a free throw for the Gators in the final minute to end the dry spell and cut Tennessee’s lead to 17-9.

The Lady Vols picked up where they left off in the second quarter, extending their run to 11-1 off a Massengill old-fashioned 3-point play on their first possession. Davis and Brown also got in on the action, hitting jumpers on back-to-back possessions to put UT up 24-9 with 8:29 remaining in the period.  Nina Rickards broke the slump for UF, knocking down a jumper just under two minutes into the quarter. Six different Lady Vols poured in buckets to help their squad lead by 20 with three minutes remaining, but Florida knocked down two long-distance jumpers to close out the half down 16 at 40-24.

The second half started out slow with neither team finding success offensively until Lou Brown hit a jumper two and half minutes in. UF remained scoreless, while Horston and Brown each hit treys to put UT up 48-25 by the media timeout. Bartram ended the drought for the Gators with 4:15 left in the period, hitting back-to-back buckets for five points to pull UF within 19 at 48-29. UT answered with an 8-0 run to lead by 27 with 1:41 remaining in the quarter. The Gators countered with four fast points to enter the fourth quarter down 56-33.

At the start of the fourth, Burrell and Kasiyahna Kushkituah combined for four quick points, putting UT up by 27 just over 30 seconds into the final stanza. Midway through the period, Bartram hit back-to-back threes to give UF a spark, but the Lady Vols stayed hot offensively, closing out the game 78-50.

Up Next: The Lady Vols return home for a Monday match-up against Alabama. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Who Says You Can’t Go Home?: Junior Rennia Davis, a Florida native from nearby Jacksonville, put on a show for her home state, knocking down 10 points in the first quarter alone. She went on to finish with 18 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes of action.

Turning The Tables: After falling behind 6-2 in the opening minutes of the game, Tennessee put together a 26-5 run over 10 minutes to lead 28-11 by the 7:19 mark of the second quarter.

Cashing In On Turnovers: Tennessee forced 16 turnovers against UF, turning them into 27 points to account for more than a third of the UT’s total points on the night.

Thunder From Down Under: Freshman Jessie Rennie continued her sharp-shooting ways, going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc against Florida.  She is averaging 60.9 percent over the last nine games. Her season 3-point shooting average of .447 leads the team.

Owning The Line: UT hit nine of 10 free throws against Florida and is 57 of 71 in SEC play, shooting 80 percent from the free-throw line in conference games.

Potent Offense: The Lady Vols shot 53 percent on the night, marking the eighth time this season and the third time in SEC play they have hit at least half of their shots. That occurred only three times during the 2018-19 season.

UT Athletics