Andre Turrentine didn’t see the field much last year during his first season at Ohio State, and he didn’t appear to be in line for a significant role with the Buckeyes this year. But that doesn’t tell the entire story of what the former four-star prospect from Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn., could add to Tennessee’s defense.
Turrentine, a redshirt freshman safety at Ohio State, announced Monday morning that he has committed to the home-state Vols after adding his name to the NCAA transfer portal a week ago.
Dave Biddle, the editor of 247Sports’ Ohio State site, Bucknuts, said he thinks the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Turrentine is “a really good pickup” for Tennessee and could make an early impact on the Vols’ secondary.
Turrentine appeared in only three games last year in his first season at Ohio State, and he might not have cracked the two-deep at safety for the Buckeyes going into his second season in the program. But even with other talented players on Ohio State’s depth chart at safety, Biddle said, the Buckeyes weren’t looking for him to leave the program.
“I know Ohio State wanted to keep him, obviously, and I think it was just a numbers crunch,” Biddle said of Turrentine. “They’ve recruited pretty well at safety, and they had some guys coming back that maybe weren’t expected to come back — like
Josh Proctor certainly is a guy that, going into last year, everybody thought would be his last year, and then he got hurt and now he’s coming back as a fifth-year senior.
“And that’s the position that Andre plays — that strong safety, that boundary — and they have another guy they like there, a kid from California named
Kourt Williams.
“He’s good, man. They wanted him to stay, because injuries can happen. Even if there was a chance he would’ve been third-string, he still would’ve been battling for a spot on the two-deep, and
Kourt Williams has been hurt a lot.”
Biddle said Turrentine played 106 total snaps during Ohio State’s spring game, and he showed a skill set that should allow him to contribute at Tennessee.
“I mean, he’s physical. He’s fast,” Biddle said of Turrentine, who was ranked the No. 169 overall prospect and No. 9 safety in the 2021 class and the No. 4 player in his class from the state of Tennessee, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. “I think he was ranked higher than most fans remember.
“I won’t be surprised if he steps right in and starts. I don’t know the situation there at Tennessee. … It’s kind of, like, a lesser version of what happened with (former Ohio State and Alabama wide receiver)
Jameson Williams, where it’s just a good fit. He could go to Tennessee and probably start, and you have him for a while. It’s not going to be, like, a one-and-done.
“I’m not saying he’s as talented as
Jameson Williams, but I bet he’ll do well there.”
Turrentine told GoVols247 that he heard from dozens of programs after entering the transfer portal last week. Biddle said it’s easy to understand why Turrentine was an attractive option for the Vols and others.
“With all the kids going in the portal, there’s probably not too many that are just entering their second year, four years of eligibility left, and were a top(-200) player in the nation,” Biddle said.
“And it’s not like anything went south at Ohio State. It’s just, that was one of the weird spots where they’ve actually recruited pretty well.”
