JaWuan James looking around?

In recruiting there are always rumors about a kid pulling back on his commitment and looking elsewhere. Luckily for Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee staff, they were the beneficiary of some de-commitments last year and this year looks like it could be more of the same. The Vols are making up ground while being hot on the heels of San Diego State quarterback commit, Tyler Bray and now there are rumors about a big, powerful offensive linemen from closer to home. Alabama commit, Jawuan James has been virtually silent since his pledge to the Tide but there has been some movement recently and Vol Nation will catch you up on the latest right here.

A couple weeks back, sources from Alabama were saying that they caught wind of James and his possible de-commitment from the Crimson Tide. The rumors came about and the most likely destination was somewhere that Jawuan fell in love with on an unofficial visit this spring, Oregon. Although it seems to be more of a rumor, in many cases, where there is smoke there is fire. Oregon is a long ways away and not in the SEC so another school has been rumored to be in the mix and that is your Tennessee Volunteers.

Whether or not this happens is still up in the air but sources close to the Alabama program are expecting him to go public with this in the next few days. The source, who wishes to stay anonymous, had this to say, “We expect James to no longer be a commit by this time next week. In fact, he could make the jump this weekend. From what we have heard, Tennessee has made a huge push here and may be the destination for Jawuan.”

James was unavailable for comment and has been for months but it sounds like we will be hearing from him very soon. If he does de-commit, Alabama may just move on and eliminate him from consideration so it could come down to Oregon, Georgia and Tennessee. If that is the case, UT looks very good because he has stated his desire to leave the state to play his college ball and the distance could be a detriment to Oregon. James is an SEC type player and Tennessee has a huge need at his spot. If he does wind up choosing the Vols, he could see the field very soon upon stepping on campus.

From talking with other players who he knows through camps and other areas, it seems like this is in fact more than a rumor. According to one player, he has been talking with Marcus Lattimore, Mack Brown, Dontae Williams and many other running backs about where they may be headed and the possibility of playing together.

With a depleted offensive line facing the staff after the next couple of years, James could step in and be a force from the get go. Paving the way for playmakers suck as Bryce Brown, David Oku and Nuke Richardson has to be an attractive option for any lineman and James has taken notice. A source from an Alabama site said, “I honestly expect Jawuan James to be in Knoxville next year. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he was another big time commit for Lane Kiffin within the next couple of weeks.”

Vol Nation will be after James in the coming days and weeks, trying to find out if this story is picking up steam or if it is just smoke with no fire. This staff has been going head to head with some major coaches and programs and winning some of these battles. Stealing a big time OL from Alabama would be another notch in the belt for sure.

Tagged as: JaWuan James