Josiah-Jordan James explains 'the biggest thing' that brought him back to Tennessee
Zakai Zeigler gave Josiah-Jordan James an ultimatum. Well, the Tennessee point guard joked about an ultimatum with his senior teammate while he was weighing his options. Come back to Tennessee, Zeigler said, and the two could remain friends. Turn pro? Say goodbye to the friendship too.
“That’s like my go-to guy right there,” James said last week during an appearance on 104.5-FM The Zone’s 3HL in Nashville. “He was like we’re not going to talk if you leave me. So I didn’t want to go down that route. I wanted to make him happy for sure.”
James made Zeigler happy on May 31 when he announced he was returning to Tennessee for a fifth year. He went through the draft process, leaving the Tennessee basketball to train in Miami, and competed at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago alongside Olivier Nkamhoua, the former Tennessee forward.
He worked out for four NBA franchises, too, before sitting down with his family and discussing what the next move would be.
“And I made the decision to return to for my last year,” James said. “It was really a win-win opportunity for me, whichever path I chose. But it was exciting. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad I made the choice to come back for my last year.”
Josiah-Jordan James at Tennessee: 9.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists,1.2 steals per game
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.
He 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.
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James credited both his parents and step-parents for the role they played while he made the decision about his basketball future. They walked the line of both offering their views of the situation while letting James make his own decision.
“They were just like, from the get go, whatever you want to do, you know we’ll be on board,” he said. “They gave me their input, but ultimately they were like it’s you decision, it’s your life, you have to wake up and live with the decision. So whatever you choose, we’ll be onboard regardless.
“That gave me peace of mind going into the whole process, so I give them a lot of credit.”
‘The relationships … are really key for me’
What James described as “the biggest thing” in the decision-making process was the relationships he has been building at Tennessee since 2019. They were simply too much to walk away from.
“I would say these last four years at the University of Tennessee have been the best four years of my life,” James said, “and it’s just because of the people that are there. I give Coach Barnes and the whole coaching staff a lot of credit. Just for the culture and the kind of guys that they bring in.
“(It’s) lifelong friendships that I’ve been able to make. Even the people outside of basketball, throughout the whole community of Knoxville, the regular students on campus, it’s just a lot of love when you’re there. I would say the relationships … are really key for me.”
