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Georgia Tech Basketball Recruiting: Former Tennessee shooting guard to transfer to Georgia Tech

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

Feb 21, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of McCamish Pavilion during the national anthem prior to the game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of McCamish Pavilion during the national anthem prior to the game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Tennessee Volunteer’s shooting guard and Georgia native Shembari Phillips will be coming home as he transfers to Georgia Tech.

Former three-star recruit Shembari Phillips is transferring to Georgia Tech per his twitter account. Phillips, a shooting guard was used more as a combo guard during his time with the Volunteers. He stands at 6-foot-3 and 192-pounds.

Phillips, alumni of Wheeler High School originally committed to Tennesee over Alabama, Georgia State, and Ole Miss amongst others in September of 2014. He was never offered by the Yellow Jackets during his high school recruitment.

As a member of the Tennesee basketball team, Phillips played in 52 games over his two seasons averaging 5.8 points per game to go along with 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists. That being said the sophomore guard is coming off a very tough season in Knoxville. Expected to be a centerpiece for Tennessee last season, Phillips struggled mightily.

On the court last season, Phillips shot just 38.4% from the field last year and 37.5% from beyond the arch. His shooting percentage from the field was over two entire points lower than his freshman year percentage of .408. With that, Josh Pastner and the coaching staff most likely recruited him for his ability to shoot from the outside. His turnover to assist ratio was poor, with 1.4 turnovers for every 1.7 assists. In total, Phillips had 44 turnovers last year and just 52 assists to go along with it.

Due to NCAA transfer rules Phillips will have to sit out a year and will be available for the Yellow Jackets in the 2018-19 season. Once Phillips is on the court, the Georgia native will most likely stay at the two position unless his ball handling issues are fixed. Obviously, the Yellow Jackets are net getting an immediate impact player in Phillips. What they are getting, however, is a player who will provide depth coming off the bench in the 2018-19 season.