Rick Barnes updates the status of Josiah-Jordan James for No. 8 Tennessee's game at South Carolina
Josiah-Jordan James will be available to play in No. 8 Tennessee’s game at South Carolina on Saturday, according to head coach Rick Barnes. The status of the senior wing was updated before Friday’s practice at Pratt Pavilion.
“He probably wanted to practice more (on Thursday) than we allowed him to,” Barnes said, “but I said after the game we’re going to have to manage him throughout the whole year because he’s that important to us that we need to make sure we can have him every game.”
Tennessee (12-2, 2-0 SEC) tips off against South Carolina (7-7, 0-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (TV: SEC Network) at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. It’s an annual homecoming game for James, a Charleston, S.C., native.
James, who missed eight of the first 13 games of the season for the Vols due to nagging knee soreness, made his return in Tennessee’s 87-53 win over Mississippi State on Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena. He played 17 minutes off the bench, scoring eight points and recording four assists.
He had missed the previous four games, his second stretch of four straight games missed this season.
After the game James credited a change in medication and some adjustments in his treatment plan allowing him to shake the pain that wouldn’t previously go away in his right knee. He practiced multiple days in a row without feeling pain before his return on Tuesday.
“It’s definitely just helped with the pain,” James said of the new medicine. “I haven’t felt any pain since three-or-four days ago when I got on the new medicine so hopefully we just keep moving forward and keep treatment up right now.”
James played the first three games of the season, admitting Tuesday that he was not feeling 100 percent at the time, before missing four in a row. He returned in early December for back-to-back games against Alcorn State and Eastern Kentucky before being sidelined for four more games.
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“We had to go back to the drawing board and get back to square one,” James said of the treatment process. “I feel like we just broke everything down.”
Up Next: No. 8 Tennessee at South Carolina, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network
James said team trainer Chad Newman and strength coach Garrett Medenwald came up with “a completely different approach” the second time around/
“I feel like it helped out a lot,” James said. “Hopefully, we can just keep moving forward. This approach was definitely different from the last ones and I feel 1,000 times better than I did before.”
The line Barnes and his staff are now walking is keeping James limited in practice while also trying to get him back in game shape. He said on Friday it’s easier working through that process with an older player.
“You think about it,” Barnes said, “Josiah through his time here has put in more practices than any of these younger guys. The system is in place. He knows the system like the back of his hand and he’s alert.
“He’s a very cerebral player. When he’s on the side (in practice) he’s getting his work done, I can assure you everything that he hears going on, he’s listening to it.”
