Josiah Jordan-James Has a Different Offensive Task This Year

It is no secret that Tennessee's roster consists of many incoming transfers and freshmen. But, there is a healthy mix of returning veterans, including Josiah Jordan-James.

Jordan-James could be the guy Tennessee looks for when it comes to having a productive amount of shooting next season. Last year, he was a 37% shooter from the field. He has not dropped below that mark in any of his four seasons on Rocky Top. He had a three-point percentage in the low 30s, but he was one of the more frequent shooters from behind the arc last season, being top five in both three-point makes and attempts.

Jordan-James has taken many more three-point shots per game in contests during the second half of his career than in the first. In his junior and senior seasons, he averaged right around five three-pointers per game. This compares to his freshman and sophomore seasons, where he had right around three or four a game.

This tendency to shoot the ball can help the Tennessee Volunteers a lot. Due to the abundance of youth and inexperience on the roster, he can be a tone-setter for the Vols when shooting the basketball. For a team that was rated right around the middle in the conference in offensive rating, James can be the guy that gets the Vols out of tough situations on the offensive end.

The Vols were also deep down in the bottom half of the conference in scoring average per game as a team (9th). Tennessee has a lot of shooters, but with Jordan-James, they have someone who can and has shot the ball at a consistent level. There will be challenges with figuring out whether some newcomers to the roster can shoot consistently from deep, but he can separate himself by continuing to shoot the ball at a high rate.