Jay Hardy doesn’t have to look far to find reminders of his family’s history with Tennessee. “I walk around the house and see nothing but Tennessee pictures of my brother and stuff,” Hardy said Saturday during the On Top Athletics recruitment camp at Murfreesboro’s Oakland High School. “My whole family’s UT fans,” said Hardy. Now that he’s being recruited by Tennessee himself, his longstanding relationship with the Vols naturally is one of the reasons he’s strongly considering them. But he said that’s hardly the only reason Tennessee is one of a handful of teams “that are going to stay in it ’til the end” of his recruitment, along with LSU, Kentucky, Florida and perhaps Clemson, which has yet to extend a scholarship offer to him.
“It’s like I’ve always been a Tennessee fan since I was younger,” Hardy said. “And then the relationships I have with the Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt. Now I’ve got a relationship with (athletic director Phillip) Fulmer. Well, I’ve always had a relationship with Coach Fulmer since he recruited my brother. “It’s getting closer with Tennessee.” Hardy admitted he has warmed up to the idea of following in his brother’s footsteps at Tennessee since getting an offer from the Vols in December.
That’s largely because of his growing relationships with Tennessee’s coaches — including inside linebackers coach
Kevin Sherrer, defensive line coach
Tracy Rocker, defensive coordinator
Derrick Ansley and Pruitt, the Vols’ second-year head coach — along with some of their current commitments and other recruits. “It’s, like, the relationships with the players — like, Harrison (Bailey) — and then the coaches,” Hardy said, referring to Tennessee’s four-star quarterback commitment. “I like Coach Ansley a lot, too. “It’s my relationships with the coaches, and then it being an in-state school.”
He’s already part of a running, group text-message conversation with Bailey and some of Tennessee’s other top targets, including four-star defensive back
Keshawn Lawrence and four-star defensive end
Tyler Baron. "I’ve known Keshawn since sixth, seventh grade, and I got to know Tyler this season,” Hardy said. “I’ve been talking to Harrison. I had heard of him, like, when I was in middle school. He’s always been good at quarterback. And then now we’re getting closer and cool. “Me and Tyler have probably got the best connection out of everybody. Us being on the same D-line, that’d be crazy. … We started hanging out at visits — like, when I went to visit at Tennessee, since his dad’s (on Tennessee’s staff). And I’ve known Coach (Patrick) Abernathy since freshman year. And then me and Tyler just started hanging out more and more at visits.”
With his list of college choices continuing to grow, he doesn’t expect to be ready to decide on a school any time soon. Auburn is among the teams that recently have extended offers to him, and he’s now planning to visit the Tigers — along with Ole Miss and Mississippi State — during a three-day trip that’s scheduled for June 14-16. He also plans to visit Oklahoma later this month, and he said LSU, Oklahoma and Arizona are among the schools that might host him on official visits. He said he's likely to announce his college decision this fall at the earliest. “It’s probably going to be toward the end of the season, after the season,” Hardy said. “I’m 100-percent sure I’m going to sign in February. I’m probably going to take officials, like, this summer, during football season and in the winter.”
. Got is great as well but more for the politics of the first 3-4 books. The Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings are also great.
