One of Tennessee's newest targets in the 2022 class now is planning to take an official visit to Knoxville. Class of 2022 defensive lineman
Jayson Jenkins of Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, N.J., said Sunday that the Vols are scheduled to host him on his fifth and final official visit the weekend of Jan. 28.
The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Jenkins said he's still set to travel to West Virginia on Friday for an official visit with the Mountaineers. He's also planning to take an official visit to Florida, which has yet to extend a scholarship offer to him, the weekend of Jan. 21.
He previously had scheduled a trip to Missouri the weekend of Jan. 28 for his final official visit. But Jenkins, who announced Tuesday that he had received an offer from Tennessee, didn't wait long to change his plans and line up a visit with the Vols the final weekend before National Signing Day.
Jenkins said "just seeing where the program's going" ultimately convinced him to take an official visit to Tennessee.
"I mean, I haven't been to Knoxville, so it'd be very fun to just take a visit down there just to see what Tennessee is all about," Jenkins told GoVols247.
The Vols have stayed in frequent contact with him since recently joining the growing list of Power Five programs pursuing him. He said he has continued to hear plenty from Tennessee defensive line analyst Levorn Harbin, who informed him of his offer from the Vols on Tuesday, along with defensive line coach
Rodney Garner.
"Pretty much on a daily basis, I have a conversation with the coaches over there, so I'm in pretty good contact with them," said Jenkins, who's ranked by 247Sports as the No. 182 defensive lineman in the 2022 class and the No. 26 senior from New Jersey. "I talk with Coach Harbin the most."
Jenkins now holds offers from more than a dozen schools, including Missouri, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Indiana, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Boston College, which gave him his first Power Five offer on Oct. 17, hosted him on his first official visit the weekend of Dec. 3. He also took an official visit to Pittsburgh last month.
He said Harbin has told him “that I’m just their overall, ideal fit” for Tennessee's defensive line.
“They like my size, how I’m fast off the ball, my technique — just using my hands and everything like that, being physical and just totally dominating the line of scrimmage,”
Jenkins said earlier this week. “Just to hear that from such a big program in Tennessee, a big SEC school, that’s just very, very great to hear, so very happy about that.”
