It’s not unheard of. I recently got caught in the rabbit hole of YouTube and watched a “whatever happened to…” video profiling a high school kid that was supposed to be the next marshawn lynch. Devonte Lee. I looked him up and he was something like the 30th ranked player in his state despite rushing for almost 7k yards in three years and 90 rushing touchdowns.
Gaudy HS stats doesn’t guarantee success at the next level. Isn’t it the running joke in this thread that his coach is running the tread off his tires?
And while Karns isn’t a hot bed where a lot of schools likely focus - the Knoxville area and East Tennessee area is. And Karns plays a bunch of those schools. So schools have seen film of him running the ball.
It’s comical the mental gymnastics people go through discredit rankings or justify lack of offers when it looks like we’re gonna land a lowly ranked or poorly offered kid.
I’m as die hard a Tennessee fan as you’ll find. And it’s forever looked like we would be landing Bishop. His recruiting profile has baffled me because of his gaudy stats and, while I’m no scout, his hudl looks good.
But the reality is the recruiting services (and we all have always claimed 247 is the most reliable) don’t currently think he’s anything special. Not many schools are pursuing him either.
Those are the indicators we as fans have to rely on, primarily. None of us are scouts. And we can have optimism in our coaching staff and their ability to find diamonds in the rough but the teams were trying to catch - Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, etc…. none of them are built off the backs of low-80s ranked players.
Hate on me and dismiss this take all you want but it’s true.
That’s all. Don’t care to argue anymore. I’d love nothing more than for Spillman and if we land Bishop to be hometown heroes and play key roles in big games for us. I just want to be good again. To get back to the Vols I took for granted as a teenager/early 20 something.
