Each time
Tomarrion Parker visits Tennessee’s campus, he’s not just taking a look at one of the several SEC schools pursuing him. He’s also going back home.
The four-star Class of 2023 defensive lineman from Central High School in Phenix City, Ala., was born in Knoxville, Tenn. — ”at a hospital down the street” from Tennessee, he said — and he still has family in the area. The Vols hosted him on a pair of visits last year, and he’s now ready to see them again Saturday for their junior day.
The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Parker named a top five of Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, Alabama and Tennessee on Feb. 9. He will be visiting the Vols on Saturday for the first time in almost six months, but he told 247Sports’ Rusty Mansell on Tuesday that he’s still considering them for multiple reasons.
“Great vibe — definitely family,” said Parker, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 65 overall prospect and No. 8 defensive lineman in the 2023 class. “Coach Chop, or Coach
Levorn (
Harbin), he talks to my family — call every day. They talk about life and things, how I’ll get up there, just to let them know that, once they send me off to college, it’d be the same way it is now. I’d be in good care. I really like the relationship.
“Growing up there, born there — down the street, at a hospital down the street. I was born there. My whole family was there, so I wouldn’t be missing nothing. But coming in where I could play, and they tell me I could be a guy that could play my freshman year, so definitely good vibes up there.”
Parker, who has received scholarship offers from more than 20 schools, visited Tennessee in June after getting an offer from the Vols’ former staff in January 2021. He returned to Knoxville on Sept. 11 for Tennessee’s home game against Pittsburgh.
The Vols have stayed in frequent contact with him over the past several months, led by Harbin, a defensive analyst. Parker also has continued to talk with Tennessee defensive line coach
Rodney Garner and others on the Vols’ staff.
After his trip to Tennessee this weekend, he’s planning to return to Georgia on March 19. The Bulldogs hosted him Jan. 15 for their national-championship celebration, and both predictions on the 247Sports Crystal Ball point to Georgia as the current favorite to land him.
