Ron Swanson
Offense Wins Championships.
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- HIGH SCHOOL Abraham Lincoln
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Israel Abanikanda, Abraham Lincoln, Athlete
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After getting his first SEC offer earlier this month from Vanderbilt, Israel Abanikanda didn’t have any reason to think another SEC program soon might follow suit. He was pleasantly surprised this week when Tennessee tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyerstopped at his school.
Abanikanda, a three-star Class of 2020 athlete from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., said he was “very excited” by the offer he received Thursday from the Vols during Niedermeyer’s visit, and he’s already hoping to visit Tennessee in the coming months. “This offer came out of nowhere,” said Abanikanda, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 916 overall prospect and No. 12 athlete in the 2020 class. “This was a great offer. I was very excited.”
The 5-foot-11.5, 191-pound Abanikanda, who now holds offers from 14 schools, said he talked with Niedermeyer after learning of the offer. He said Niedermeyer “told me that I’m a very versatile player that has great skill sets” and has the “ability to play both sides” of the ball “with amazing speed.” Abanikanda recently was timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a Nike The Opening Regional.
While he said Tennessee’s coaches have indicated that “they want me to play running back,” he added that “they said it’s impressive that I played both sides” of the ball. He said he’s not all that familiar with the Vols right now, and he “won’t know where they stand on my list until I visit.” But he said he “definitely” hopes to make the trip to Tennessee at some point — “maybe” in May or over the summer. “I think Tennessee is a great school,” Akanikanda said. “They’re a competitive team that is in a competitive conference.”