Tennessee Basketball: Josiah-Jordan James says knee soreness will be 'a game-to-game thing'

Josiah-Jordan James first felt it when Tennessee played Colorado three weeks ago. Then again three days later against Florida Gulf Coast.

Something wasn’t right in the Tennessee senior wing’s surgically repaired knee. 

“I was skeptical about playing (against Colorado),” James said Sunday after No. 13 Tennessee’s 94-40 win over Thompson-Boling Arena. “The Florida Gulf Coast game, I was very skeptical about playing in that one.”

James had his knee scoped back in the spring, then had three injections done in October — one per week — while he sat out Tennessee’s preseason work.

He returned in time for the season opener against Tennessee Tech and played in the first three games, averaging 23.6 minutes per game, but something wasn’t right.

“I just felt like we were (regressing) and not getting better,” James said. “I just took a step back and let Chad (Tennessee trainer Chad Newman) and ‘G’  (strength coach Garrett Medenwald) come up with a plan for me moving forward. 

“It was early on in the season that I knew something wasn’t really right and it just kept seeming like it was getting worse and worse. I feel like we are moving in the right direction.”

Josiah-Jordan James: ‘It really is tough missing games’

Head coach Rick Barnes labeled James as day-to-day and then left everything else up to him. James would be back, Barnes said last week, when he knew he was ready.

“It’s really up to him,” Barnes said before practice on Tuesday. “We want him to be 100 percent healthy when he’s ready to play. He did do a little bit yesterday, but only he knows where he really is. Mentally I think he’s got to feel good about it, when he’s ready to go.”

“Again,” Barnes added later, “it’s been made clear to him, we want him to feel comfortable. Certainly we’re not going to ask anybody to play when they don’t feel (comfortable). We just want him to feel good about himself. As much as he’s put into the program, he’ll know when he’s ready.”

The time James has left with the Vols, now eight games into his senior season, is what made his game-to-game decisions that much harder. 

“It is really tough missing games,” James said, “because I am in the latter part of my career. I am trying to cherish every moment. Being on the sideline isn’t a lot of fun. You have to do what is best for my health and my situation. 

“I respect Coach (Barnes) for respecting me and my decisions and the decisions of Chad and ‘G’.”

The Vols won three games in three days in the Bahamas without James, beating Butler, USC and Kansas to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. James did not dress for the Butler game. He warmed up before both the USC and Kansas games before sitting out.

He warmed up before the McNeese State game with his teammates on Wednesday but did not dress for the game.

“I have faith in my teammates,” James said. “I think we work as hard as any team in the country if not the hardest out of anybody. I know that everybody in the locker room is prepared to take the challenge on of whoever are playing. It is tough not being out there, not being available to be out there at my best.”

Up Next: No. 13 Tennessee vs. Eastern Kentucky, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

On Wednesday he played 14 minutes off the bench, scoring two points while finishing with three assists and two rebounds. He went 1-for-5 from the field and was 0-for-4 from the 3-point line.

He’s not in the clear yet, either.

Tennessee (7-1) hosts Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday (7 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: SEC Network) at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols then go to New York for a neutral-site game Sunday against No. 22 Maryland and play at No. 4 Arizona on December 17.

James might have to make a decision on his availability before each of them.

“Moving forward, it will be a game-to-game thing,” he said. “(The knee) feels good. It has felt good for the last couple of days. I like where we are at right now.”