Josiah-Jordan James returns for Tennessee against Mississippi State
Tennessee senior wing Josiah-Jordan James is available to play for the eighth-ranked Vols in their SEC home opener Tuesday against Mississippi State. James was active during practice on Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena, going through five-on-five drills alongside his teammates.
The Vols (11-2, 1-0 SEC) host Mississippi State (11-2, 0-1) on Tuesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPNU.
Rick Barnes said during his media availability before practice on Monday that James was progressing toward a return.
“He is doing better,” Barnes said. “He is starting to work his way back in. We will see what that leads to, but he is working his way back in.”
James dressed for the Ole Miss game last week after going through a full pregame workout, but did not play in the game. Barnes said last week that the Vols were still waiting on him to return to five-on-five work in practice.
“He’s doing a little bit more with Chad and Garrett,” Barnes said, referencing team trainer Chad Newman and strength coach Garrett Medenwald, “but with us, he’ll warm up with us a little bit, but he hasn’t gotten in on five-on-five stuff yet.”
James, who had his knee scoped in the spring and had three injections done in October, played the first three games of the regular season, then missed four straight games. He returned for two games, but is missing his fourth straight game since then.
He last played in Tennessee’s 84-49 win over Eastern Kentucky on December 7. It was his second straight game, after returning from four straight games missed to play against Alcorn State, a 94-40 Tennessee win on December 4.
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James played 17 minutes off the bench against EKU after playing 14 against Alcorn.
James, who underwent a knee scope in the spring, played the first three games of the regular season before missing the next four. He enters Tuesday having missed four straight games.
Vols vs. Mississippi State: How to watch, stream, listen
Tipoff Time: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday
Location: Thompson-Boling Arena
TV: ESPNU
Streaming: ESPN App or WatchESPN.com
Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast (Bob Kesling – play-by-play – Bert Bertelkamp, analyst) can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
After hosting Mississippi State on Wednesday, the remaining January SEC schedule for Tennessee includes home games against Vanderbilt (January 10), Kentucky (January 14) and Georgia (January 25). The Vols play at South Carolina (January 7), at Mississippi State (January 17) at LSU (January 21).
Texas, the final non-conference game on schedule, will be played January 28 at Thompson-Boling Arena in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.