Two Tennessee basketball players receive G League Elite Camp invites
Josiah-Jordan James and Olivier Nkamhoua are among the 45 players that received invitations to the NBA’s G League Elite Camp in Chicago next week. The NBA announced the full list on Friday, with the camp set for May 13 and 14 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
The NBA Combine will be held May 16-18 in Chicago and the NBA Draft is set for June 22 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game for the Vols this season, shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line, where he went 18-for-54.
He had 27 points in the win over Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament but was limited to just six in the Sweet 16 loss to Florida Atlantic. He had 27 against Texas on January 28 at Thompson-Boling Arena, but was held to eight points or fewer in 14 games and had four or fewer rebounds in 17 games.
Rick Barnes: Olivier Nkamhoua’s ‘ultimate goal’ is to play professional basketball next year
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said on during a Big Orange Caravan stop two weeks ago that Nkamhoua entered the portal at the advice of his father.
“He told us that his dad wanted him to put his name in the portal, which is a decision they have to make,” Barnes said. “From day one, our conversation with him has been that his ultimate goal was to try and put himself in a position to be a professional athlete next year.”
James over four seasons at Tennessee made 87 starts in 108 games, averaging 27.9 minutes per game. He scored 9.0 points per game for his career, shooting 38.0 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from the 3-point line. He averaged 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game, too.
“Hopefully, barring any setbacks, I’ll be able to compete in the NBA Combine,” James said in February during a speaking engagement at the Big Orange Tip-Off Club in Knoxville, “go do team workouts, individual workouts for teams. So I’m really looking forward to that, getting feedback.
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“And if a team is high on me and they want to draft me, and I think I can do it, I’ll probably take that next step and try to play in the NBA.”
James was a five-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class out of Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, S.C. He’s played in 100 career games at Tennessee, averaging 8.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 27.9 minutes per game, starting 81 times.
Knee soreness, ankle injury sidelined Josiah-Jordan James last season
He averaged 7.4 points and 5.5 rebounds as a freshman in 2019-20, then 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds as a sophomore in 2020-21. He jumped to 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game last season, then averaged 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds this season.
The right knee scope he had in May was still an issue in October, when James missed the preseason with knee soreness. He missed eight games during the regular season with the knee issue then four more games in February with an ankle sprain.
He played 25.2 minutes per game this season, starting 14 times in his 24 appearances. He shot 31.3 percent from the 3-point line and 37.2 percent from the field.
James said in February that after his playing days are over, he wants to get into coaching.
“Right now,” James said in February, “I don’t have the patience for it. But hopefully down the road I can do that.”
