KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee basketball team recently added a second guard from the state of Georgia during the early signing period, as head coach Bruce Pearl announced that earlier this week Trae Golden signed a National Letter of Intent to attend UT and play for the Volunteers beginning in the 2010-11 season. Golden’s AAU teammate, Jordan McRae, also signed with the Vols last week.
A 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard from Powder Springs, Ga., Golden is a senior at McEachern High School and plans to enroll at Tennessee next summer.
“I’ve been watching Trae play since he was a freshman and have watched him grow and mature,” Pearl said. “He’s a tough kid—a competitor—and he’ll bring an element of toughness to this team. He’s got leadership abilities, he’s an outstanding student-athlete and he has a great family.
“He’s the kind of guy that we want in this program.”
As a junior last year at McEachern, Golden averaged 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds per game while leading the Indians to a 24-4 record.
“It feels great to have signed and have that decision over with,” Golden said. “Tennessee just has that family atmosphere. That’s the kind of feel coach Pearl has created there. I love it there—everything about it—and I can’t wait to be a Vol.”
A 2008-09 Class AAAAA first-team All-State selection by both the Georgia Sports Writers Association and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Golden is rated by Rivals.com as a four-star prospect and the No. 55 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2010.
He is coached at McEachern by Mike Thompson.
In addition to Golden and last week’s signing of Liberty County, Ga., shooting guard McRae, Tennessee’s current roster already includes a pair of Georgia natives in sophomore guard Cameron Tatum (Lithonia) and freshman forward Kenny Hall (Stone Mountain).
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)