When Josiah-Jordan James sprained his ankle against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, it meant the Vols were losing a veteran player, one of their best defenders and their glue guy for at least a couple of games.
When James returned Saturday against South Carolina, it was a reminder of how valuable he is to Tennessee.
James scored 18 points on an efficient 7-for-11 from the field and helped lead No. 11 Tennessee (21-8, 10-6 SEC) to another dominant win over South Carolina (10-19, 3-13).
“Really, we’re all happy for Josiah. We know what he means to the program,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “He dealt with a lot. He came back to practice after we got back from A&M and probably did more than we thought, but he wanted to do it. Today, he was terrific.”
And it wasn’t just James’ personal performance that was so important to Tennessee on Saturday. The Vols are a noticeably better team with James leading them. In the win on Saturday, they looked like a different team than the one that has struggled so much in February.
“His presence has such a major impact on our team because he’s been in so many big opportunities, big-game situations,” Barnes said. “I think his presence takes a lot of pressure off of guys. He gives his teammates a comfort.”
The four-game road to recovery wasn’t an easy one for James, especially when he saw his team struggling. That is why he was quick to get back on the court as soon as he knew that he could help, even if he wasn’t fully recovered.
“Obviously I’m not 100%, but I thought that I could contribute,” James said. “Whether it be just giving some of the guards, some of the bigs a rest. I felt like whatever I was able to do, I was going to come out and do it just because we’re at the point in the season where we need as many people as we can have.”
The sprained ankle was also a part of what has already been a frustrating senior year for James. He missed a major stretch of games early on in the season while recovering from an offseason knee procedure.
“It’s been tough. It’s my senior year,” James said. “I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into my time here. I never could have imagined that my senior year would have gone like this, but everything happens for a reason. I’m coming in with the mindset that I’m still trying to get the most out of each day and still trying to get better even though it’s limited work that I’m able to do.”
But now James’ injury and Tennessee’s struggles can become a thing of the past. The Vols close out the regular season this week and have a huge stretch of games on deck. Tennessee has Arkansas on Tuesday and Auburn on Saturday with SEC seeding implications on the line.
The Vols sit at No. 4 in the SEC heading into the week with Missouri just a game behind them and Kentucky just a game in front of them. Two wins to close out the season would guarantee a top-4 seed in the SEC Tournament and a double-bye.
While it’s just one game, Tennessee’s dominant win and the return of James could prove to be huge for the Vols’ momentum going forward.
“It can do a whole lot. Everybody in the locker room knew that we were due for a break,” James said. “When you work so hard day in and day, you know that good things are coming. We’ve got high-character guys in that locker room who are only about winning, only about the team.”
