Julian Phillips leads NBA Draft Combine in running vertical, standing vertical on Day 1
Julian Phillips’ week at the NBA Draft Combine got off to a flying start Monday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Phillips on the first day of the Combine had the highest running vertical leap at 43.0 inches and the highest standing vertical at 35.0 inches.
Phillips was a full inch ahead of Mojave King (42.0) in the vertical and 2.5 inches ahead of Cameron Whitmore (40.5) in third. He was a full inch ahead of the field in the standing vertical, too, with Olivier-Maxence Prosper coming in at 35.0.
Phillips is the only Tennessee player at the NBA Draft Combine this week. Josiah-Jordan James and Olivier Nkamhoua competed in the NBA’s G League Elite Camp over the weekend but were not among the eight players that earned an invite to the Combine based on their G League Camp performance.
Julian Phillips entered name in NCAA Transfer Portal last week
Phillips on Wednesday entered his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal, a day before the portal closed. Sources have told Volquest the plan for Phillips is to play professional basketball next season, with the transfer portal entry serving as a backup plan should the feedback from the NBA Draft process not go his way.
After Tennessee’s loss to Florida Atlantic in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York in March, Phillips said he was still undecided on what was next in his basketball career.
“I am still processing the end of the season, this game especially,” Phillips said. “Just being here with my team and being here with my brothers, this is really tough. Everything in the future, we can sit down and figure that out later when we get away from here.”
Phillips averaged 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per game during his freshman season, starting 25 times in 32 games, missing four games due to a hip injury in February. He shot 41.1 percent from the field but just 23.9 percent from the 3-point line. He led Tennessee in free throws made (97) and attempted (150) and was fourth in rebounding (150).
Top 10
- 1Breaking
John Mateer
Top portal QB commits to Oklahoma
- 2Hot
Diego Pavia
Vandy QB granted eligibility
- 3New
Vols troll OSU
Apple Maps changes The Shoe
- 4
Alabama AD: 'Fight back'
SEC NIL wars take next step
- 5
Johni Broome injury
Positive news on Auburn star
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
He scored a season-high 25 points against USC in November in the Bahamas and went for 18 points and 11 rebounds at Mississippi State in January, his two best performances with the Vols.
“I definitely wish I could have played better,” Phillips said in March. “I know the type of player I am. I know the work I put in. I have to get back in the gym, get my game right.”
Tennessee’s 2023-24 roster set after offseason overhaul
Phillips was a five-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, ranked No. 13 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the No. 4 small forward nationally and originally committed to LSU, but reopened his recruitment and committed to and signed with the Vols after LSU fired Will Wade in March 2022.
Freshman point guard BJ Edwards entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on May 5 and Nkamhoua entered the portal on March 30. Edwards committed to SMU three days after entering the portal and Nkamhoua, like Phillips, is hoping to play professional basketball next season.
Tennessee’s 2023-24 roster currently stands at 13 scholarship players, with three additions from the NCAA Transfer Portal in USC Upstate guard Jordan Gainey along with Harvard forward Chris Ledlum and Northern Colorado wing Dalton Knecht.
