‘23 TN WR Demitrius Bell

#54
#54
We just offered. I said recently that Michigan State had made him a priority for a while and to watch them as he had a visit there this past weekend. Bet you didn't hear about Kaleb Webb at this point either. Off field issues aren't bad character, and people don't seem to mind the grades thing with Will Whitson who has a high chance of not being able to move on from juco because of grades.

Point is, we just offered and he's got grade issues so I'm not going to worry about him if he commits elsewhere. Especially to a B10 school not named OSU.

Re: Whitson, he's a) a DL, and b) by all accounts a potentially elite one at that. Nobody has said he might not be able to move on from JUCO, only that he *might* not be able to enroll for spring 2023. Zero chance in my mind that anyone who's eligible to play this season can't get themselves eligible to enroll as a football player in the SEC (not Vandy) with one year of run way.
 
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#61
#61
AP said we wanted him more than Justin Brown, Devin Hyatt, or Shamar Porter. About a week ago, he also said he expected us to push for him and alluded to Pope really liking him.
And also said that the UT offer was a 'dream/significant' one.
 
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#63
#63
Blackman wideout Demitrius Bell committed to Michigan State without ever coming up to Tennessee and giving the Vols a look. He was on campus on Thursday taking part in 7v7 with his team. We spoke with him and he said he didn’t know what it would take for Tennessee to get back in on him. Even though he called the Vols a dream school and people around Bell said he rocked a Tennessee lanyard all spring, he believes they were late to offer him. After the 7v7 competition, he spent time with Kelsey Pope and we believe he is open to taking some visits. Time will tell.
-VQ
 
#65
#65
Lol! Another in-state kid saying we are “late to offer” and he still hasn’t even played his senior year! My word! Late to offer means you get offered a month before signing day, kid.
its relative to when other schools did offer him.

I mean Michigan St offered him in April ....of 2022 lol.
A whole month before Tennessee! So we really dragged our feet on this one.

No seriously, I'm happy for the kid. Even though his explanation is immature- even for a 17 year old.

Still not sure why the staff is so gah gah about him. Good player, but honestly there's a good number of playmakers out there better than him, at WR or that could play WR.
 
#67
#67
After picking up a scholarship offer from Tennessee less than two weeks ago, Demitrius Bell didn’t get a chance to visit the Vols before committing to Michigan State on Wednesday. But less than 24 hours after he announced his decision, he finally made it to Knoxville with some of his teammates to participate in Tennessee’s 7-on-7 camp.

Vols coach Josh Heupel’s staff, led by first-year wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope, spent plenty of time watching the four-star Class of 2023 wide receiver/athlete from Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., during Thursday’s camp. Bell also got to see some of Tennessee’s campus and facilities for himself, and he was able to meet with Pope and some of the Vols’ other coaches after the Blaze’s final game Thursday afternoon.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Bell said Tennessee made it clear to him during Thursday’s visit that it doesn’t intend to give up on him just yet despite his commitment to the Spartans, who hosted him on his first official visit last weekend. But he said he’s not sure yet how much he will consider Tennessee moving forward.

“I don’t know about taking no visits,” said Bell, who’s ranked the No. 332 overall prospect and No. 23 athlete in the 2023 class and the No. 8 rising senior from the state of Tennessee, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

“I’ll keep an open mind.”

The Vols told Bell they liked what they saw from him on the field during Thursday’s 7-on-7 competition, which featured teams from several different states.

Bell, who transferred from McGavock High School in Nashville, Tenn., to Blackman in February, chose his words carefully and wasn’t willing to say much about his possible interest in Tennessee after visiting the Vols on Thursday. But he admitted that he was impressed by his first look at Tennessee’s campus.

“It’s a good facility,” he said. “I like it. … I didn’t know it was going to look like this.”

Before announcing his commitment to Michigan State, Bell told GoVols247 earlier this week that the offer he received from Tennessee on May 30 “was one I was waiting on.” He said the Vols showed interest in him for weeks before joining the list of major programs that have extended offers to him, which also includes Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Ole Miss, Penn State and South Carolina.

“I knew it was going to be coming,” Bell said earlier this week, “because I was talking to Pope for, like, three weeks leading up to the offer. … (Tennessee likes) my quickness and my route-running. They said I’m one of the best wide receivers they’ve seen.”

Before committing to the Spartans, he said he “grew up liking” Tennessee, adding that he “was a big fan.” He said he also liked what he had heard from the Vols’ coaches, led by Pope.

“He’s a cool coach,” Bell said of Pope. “He keeps it real.”

But it remains to be seen whether his trip to Knoxville on Thursday ultimately will open the door for the Vols to be a serious threat to Michigan State. He said Thursday that his connection to Spartans coach Mel Tucker’s staff ultimately led him to pick Michigan State without waiting to see Tennessee or taking a second official visit.

“I built a great relationship with the coaches, and they showed me that they really care about me,” Bell said. “It’s genuine.”
-Callahan
 
#68
#68
If Vols want him, then he will be a Vol. For his sake, he better not wait because as the season goes on and our receivers rank up record yardage it might be too late. Every receiver in country will want to be in Knoxville. Wide Receiver U is back
 
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#73
#73
Loooong way to go for both sides. See what happens when we land Tate, Benson and Mizell, then win 10 games while MSU comes crashing back to earth...

Tennessee needs State to be good. It can only help if they were to beat Mich/O$U.
 

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