CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Josiah-Jordan James has been in a halftime locker room with Rick Barnes 136 times.
Wednesday at the Dean Smith Center stands alone for the Tennessee basketball senior. It was the maddest he had ever seen Barnes, who was paint-peeling pissed after watching what he described as the worst half of basketball from any team he has ever coached.
The Vols were lost and they would lose at North Carolina. But amid the Chapel Hill carnage and alongside a jaw-dropping Dalton Knecht second half, Barnes and the Vols found something in sophomore Jonas Aidoo.
“I truly think Jonas is gonna play his way this year into being one of the best post guys in the country,” Barnes said.
Aidoo wasn’t the star for the No. 11 Vols (4-3) in their hard-to-reason 100-92 loss at No. 16 North Carolina (5-1) in the ACC/SEC Challenge. He wasn’t the star either in UT’s losses to highly ranked Kansas and Purdue in the Maui Invitational. But the forward from Durham has shown Barnes what he can do now — and that’s enough to believe he will be a star.
What Rick Barnes saw from Jonas Aidoo at North Carolina
Aidoo threw his long right arm in the air, demanding attention.
He got it but he didn’t get the ball. So he did it again, rolling to the opposite elbow with North Carolina’s Armando Bacot on his back. He got the ball this time and flicked a short jumper in over the UNC star.
“We’re going to establish Jonas,” Barnes said.
That essentially was the game plan to open the second half, with the Vols trailing 61-39. The 6-foot-11 forward hit his first shot. He beat Bacot on a slick pick-and-roll and a sweet find from guard Santiago Vescovi. That was a three-point play. He drew a foul on Bacot on the next possession, owning the preseason All-American to gain position.
The Vols used Aidoo consistently in high ball-screen sets in the second half, which freed Knecht to dominate. Barnes liked how Aidoo passed out of the screens when he got the ball.
But it was as much about how Aidoo played before he fouled out with 13 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes as it was who he did it against.
“He’s just as good as any big that we’ve played against,” James said.
Jonas Aidoo has been going up against the best forwards in the country
The Vols faced Purdue 7-4 superhuman Zach Edey in their second game in the Maui Invitational. They faced 7-1 Kansas star Hunter Dickinson in the final game.
Aidoo’s stats weren’t pretty against Purdue, another game in which he fouled out. He had eight points and 11 rebounds against KU, plus three blocks and three steals.
“I think what’s come out of this for us is I think Jonas Aidoo finally believes what I’ve told him: He’s got a chance to be as good as all those guys and be a factor,” Barnes said.
Aidoo’s defensive abilities have been known since he got to Tennessee. He is a shot-blocking presence the Vols didn’t have for multiple seasons before he arrived. But it is the offensive ability that is giving Barnes hope and belief in who Aidoo is going to be.
He has some shooting ability. He can pass the ball. If he can be a steady producer on the inside, Tennessee’s potent 3-point shooting ability will become even more problematic for opponents. To do that, Aidoo needs to eliminate the foul trouble that has plagued him his whole career.
The Vols need more than 21 minutes in a ranked matchup from their best big man. He is that much right now. Wednesday showed Barnes he could be more than just Tennessee’s best big man.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it