Used to be when someone like five-star prospect Julian Phillips signed with Tennessee basketball, the news would’ve been hailed as a rare achievement for the Vols.
Not anymore.
Likewise, the thought of Tennessee women’s basketball adding four transfers in one incoming class would’ve been unthinkable in years past.
Times have changed.
The recruiting of both Tennessee basketball teams this spring reflects changes that have occurred both at the individual program level and nationally.
For example, the Vols have signed 11 McDonald’s All-Americans in their team history.
Six have come during coach Rick Barnes’ era. Phillips is the fourth in as many years, following Josiah-Jordan James (2019), Jaden Springer (2020) and Kennedy Chandler (2021). Phillips is part of a growing trend.
Meanwhile, when Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper was a player at Tennessee in the late 1990s, the team’s recruiting focused entirely on high school prospects. The Lady Vols did add a high school All-American for next season in Justine Pissott. She fits the usual signing class profile. But Rickea Jackson, Jasmine Powell, Jasmine Franklin and Jillian Hollingshead come via the transfer portal and represent a new recruiting order.
Based on what has transpired, here are the three UT newcomers who best reflect the changing times.
Jackson: The Lady Vols recruited the 6-foot-2 forward out of high school, when the former Detroit Edison Public School Academy standout was one of the nation’s top prospects. She chose Mississippi State and played up to her billing, leading the SEC in scoring as a junior.
Although Harper didn’t recruit Jackson, Lady Vols assistant Samantha Williams did as an assistant at Louisville. Jackson also knew Lady Vols guard Jordan Horston. The familiarity served the Lady Vols’ purpose.
Under former coach Holly Warlick, the Lady Vols suffered in the end for toxic team chemistry, but not for recruiting. Warlick and her staff added top five signing classes in 2016 and ’17. Harper, who is preparing for her fourth season, has not yet signed a comparable collection of high school talent. Based on ESPN’s rankings, however, she and her staff have gathered this year’s top collection of transfers.
Phillips: The 6-foot-8, 200 pounder wing was ranked No. 12 nationally in the 2022 class according to the 247Sports Composite and was ranked second among forwards. The former LSU commitment is talented enough to have considered the NBA’s G-League Ignite before choosing Tennessee.
Phillips mentioned Barnes’ track record for preparing wing players for the NBA, which is part of another Vols' trend that aids recruiting.
Grant Williams changed his player profile while at UT. The former Vol forward hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points Sunday for the Boston Celtics in a Game 7 playoff victory over defending champion Milwaukee. Regarding the aforementioned five-stars, Springer is in the league and Chandler is projected as a first-round pick next month in the draft.
Phillips’ signing also helped ease the Vols’ transfer news, which had been trending against them. Five players have entered the portal since the season’s end. One transfer, guard Tyreke Key, has signed.
Hollingshead: Since Tamari Key is a senior, the Lady Vols needed to add a post player. The 6-5 Hollingshead, a transfer from Georgia, fits the bill.
Like Jackson, Tennessee benefitted from having recruited Hollingshead out of high school. Unlike Jackson – and the other two transfers for that matter – Hollingshead, a former McDonald’s All-American, will be a sophomore. The Lady Vols are getting someone with less experience but more eligibility.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at ddanfleser3@gmail.com.