After getting a scholarship offer from Tennessee earlier this year,
KingJoseph Edwards traveled to Knoxville more than a week ago to take his first look at the Vols. He’s already planning to see them again in the coming months.\
The four-star Class of 2024 athlete from Buford (Ga.) High School said Tennessee made a good first impression on him June 26 during his visit with the Vols, which coincided with their final camp of the summer. He said the trip to Tennessee “definitely made an impact” on him, and he came away more interested in the program.
“I was impressed with the coaching staff and organization of my visit,” said Edwards, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 12 overall prospect and No. 3 athlete in the 2024 class. “Some schools have a hard time making a schedule and making sure all the things I want to accomplish are achieved while I’m visiting. My time is limited, and they definitely made an impact.”
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Edwards, who has received scholarship offers from more than 30 schools, said he now expects to return there later this year for one of the Vols’ home games.
“They just want me to come back up for a game, see a game and see what it’s like during the games and all that,” he said. “They want me to come to the Alabama game. … I am so excited to go to a game this upcoming season. They are going to be really good.”
Edwards said he “just wanted to come up and see what it was like” at Tennessee. The Vols had invited him to visit a few other times in the past, and he said he’s glad he was finally able to make it to Knoxville.
Tennessee defensive line coach
Rodney Garner was among the members of the Vols’ staff who spent time with Edwards while he was on campus. He said Tennessee seems to be more interested in using him as an edge rusher or defensive lineman, while some teams also are recruiting him to play tight end.
Edwards, who watched from the sideline during the Vols’ camp, said he doesn’t “know yet” which position he might prefer to play in college.
“I’m kind of weighing that in the recruiting process,” he said.
Before visiting Tennessee, he said he had heard plenty about the Vols from their coaches, along with one of their current commitments:
Jack Luttrell of Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Ga.
“I’ve heard about them overall, because I used to play with
Jack Luttrell, and he’s obviously committed here,” Edwards said. “He’s always telling me to come up to games and all that with him, and stuff like that.”
One thing Edwards didn’t know about Tennessee before his recent visit is that legendary former NFL quarterback
Peyton Manning played for the Vols, and Manning’s name is mentioned throughout their Anderson Training Center. Edwards said the fact that Manning played there “got my attention a lot.”
“I didn’t know all that,” he said.
Florida, N.C. State, Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma and Miami are among the other schools Edwards visited last month. He said he’s interested in traveling to “probably” Oregon in addition to Tennessee for a game this season.
He said he doesn’t have any early favorites in mind “yet,” and he can’t say for sure where the Vols stand among the lengthy list of teams pursuing him.
Edwards currently is in no hurry to decide on a college. He said he plans to make his choice sometime during his “senior year.”
