The Jahmai Mashack Blog: This is Why I Committed to Tennessee...

Mashack's commitment gives Tennessee one of the top recruiting classes in the country.

Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) wing Jahmai Mashack ended his recruitment on Tuesday picking Tennessee over Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. Mashack wrote an exclusive blog with SI All-American breaking down the thought process behind his decision.

What’s up world, my name is Jahmai Mashack and I am now officially committed to the University of Tennessee!

I’m excited.

When I first talked to Coach (Michael) Schwartz I knew he was an amazing guy and he wanted to get to know me as a person. In my first meeting with the staff I saw that Coach (Rick) Barnes really treated his assistants like head coaches and that’s something that really stuck out to me and my family.

RELATED: Kennedy Chandler Commits to Tennessee

It was truly a family over there, and I love that.

Coach Barnes is an amazing coach and an even better person. The first time I talked to him he was down to earth and told me how much he loved what I do on both ends of the floor. He was passionate about how he could help to turn me into a great player.

When my grandmother passed, he checked on me and my whole family and never once brought up recruitment or basketball.

That really stood out to me, and it’s something I’ll never forget.

Their plan for me is to come in and play and defend multiple positions. They said they see me as a two-way player that scores at three levels. They want me to be vocal, competitive and have a lot of energy on the floor.

RELATED: Jaden Akins commits to Michigan State

Being in a pandemic made my recruitment way more difficult.

For example, I’ve never seen the University of Tennessee in person! That’s really hard, and I understand that it’s been hard for all of the players around the country. I really wanted to get the grasp of the campus and see all of the things they were showing me in Zooms. It’s just not the same, but this is the situation we’re all facing and you can’t just complain about it because we’re all going through it.

I’m really excited about our class that we have coming in!

I’ve talked to Kennedy (Chandler) already, and, now that I’m a part of the family too, we’re gonna build a stronger bond. He’s great defensively and offensively and the coaches feel like we can be one of the best freshmen duos in the country. That starts with defense and that’s something that we both understand and are committed to.

I really want to bring in Ryan Mutumbo and Jabari Smith!

If we can get those guys it would be even more special, so we’ll see what we can get done.

I’m so relieved to have this over with, it’s a big weight off my back.

The fans at Tennessee are amazing!

RELATED: Enoch Boakye announces his commitment to Michigan State

I can’t wait to start to build relationships there, and I’m ready to get it rolling!

OK, guys I’ve got to get going, but thanks to Sports Illustrated for the platform and opportunity and thanks for reading.

I’m ready to get to Tennessee! Go Vols!

Don’t forget to follow Jahmai Mashack:

Twitter: @JahmaiM

Instagram: jmash.21