Tennessee star Josiah-Jordan James passes on NBA, will return to play for Vols

The Tennessee basketball program received a big boost on Wednesday as star guard Josiah-Jordan James announced that he is returning to school and will hold off on entering the NBA draft.

James made the announcement on Twitter, posting “one more year.” He will be a fifth-year senior in 2023-24.

James battled injuries last season and appeared in 24 games, while making 14 starts. He finished fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10 points per game. He was also the third-leading rebounder on the squad with an average of 4.7 per game.

James signed with Tennessee out of Charleston, South Carolina. He signed with the Vols as a four-star recruit and the No. 21 overall player in the country for the class of 2019, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

As a freshman in 2019-20, Josiah-Jordan James immediately made an impact for the Vols. He averaged 5.5 rebounds per game, good for second on the team, and 2.9 assists per game, which was also the second-best on the team.

James appeared in 25 games, while making 17 starts in 2020-21. He led the Vols in total rebounding (6.5 rpg), offensive rebounding (2.1 orpg) and steals (1.4 spg) that season.

As a junior in 2021-22, James came on strong at the end of the year. He averaged 13.7 points per game over his final 16 games.

Josiah-Jordan James had a productive season in 2022-23, despite battling injuries. The hope is that he will be able to stay healthy and take his game to another level in 2023-24.

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move was on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until May 31 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.