the three-star junior safety from heard county high school in franklin, ga., said tennessee is probably my leader right now following his trip to knoxville last weekend for the vols spring-ending orange and white game, with auburn and florida state also still among his favorites. Beasley initially said theres not really a leader between tennessee, auburn and florida state before pointing to the vols as the team that has started to separate itself from the others. im still just weighing things out, added beasley, whos ranked by 247sports the no. 452 overall prospect and no. 33 safety in the 2019 class.
theyre showing the most love right now, and i feel theyre being real with me and stuff like that, beasley said. and i like coach pruitt a lot, and (safeties) coach (charles) kelly. beasley said he returned to tennessee last weekend for the third time in less than two months because he just wanted to see something like a game-day type atmosphere and just see how the fans are and stuff like that. it was good, beasley said. i like the atmosphere there. It felt good. It was a bigger turnout than i expected. I kind of expected a big turnout because of coach pruitt. The fans wanted to see how he works and stuff like that. I liked the crowd there. It was pretty deep.
i just know that they dont have that many safeties right now, so i can go there and compete for a spot early if i go there, he said. i kind of saw that on the field, and then after (the game) coach kelly kind of showed me. I mean, theyre only going to have, like, two safeties next year before they sign (the 2019 class).
he said he spent the weekend with the vols, arriving friday in time to talk with kelly, his primary recruiter for tennessee. Beasley said he also spoke with some of the vols current players, including cornerback shawn shamburger and safety theo jackson. (shamburger) was real with me, beasley said. he was just like, i aint just trying to pressure you to come here. he was just like, just find the place that best fits you, and stuff like that. But he was like, the coaches are going to make sure youre straight and stuff like that, and theyre good coaches. beasley said tennessee defensive line coach tracy rocker stopped at his school last week on the first day of the spring evaluation period, and he still talks with kelly almost daily. "i love our relationship, beasley said of kelly. i mean, he keeps it real with me, and he tells me how it really is.
before returning to tennessee last weekend, beasley visited florida state for the first time april 14 to attend the seminoles spring game. i mean, i liked it, he said. i liked the atmosphere, too, and the fan base and the coaches. I really didnt get a chance to talk with coach (willie) taggart. I talked with (defensive backs) coach (harlon) barnett and (director of player development) mario edwards.
beasley said one of the main reasons hes high on florida state is that hes a derwin james guy, referring to the former seminoles star safety who was chosen by the san diego chargers on thursday night with the 17th pick in the first round of the nfl draft. But he said james is also one of the reasons he likes tennessee. thats kind of one of the reasons (i like florida state) to play at the same place he did, beasley said, referring to james. but, at the same time, coach kelly, he coached derwin and jalen (ramsey), so that kind of plays a big role in why i like tennessee.
