Hope all of you loyal readers enjoyed the holidays. Myself and mine certainly did and it was quite a busy one from a personal standpoint so I must apologize for the delay in this installment of the Recruiting Fix. I will have one every week for you from here until NSD though and there will be no shortage of things to talk about.
The All-American Games are upon us with the first being played last Saturday. The Army game used to be the one you watched if you could only watch one, but ESPN connections have created a whole conglomerate surrounding the Under-Armour game and they get to dictate how highly those players are ranked on ESPN’s rating system in an attempt to make the game appear more exciting. It’s really a crock and if they want respectability from the recruiting junkies that follow this stuff yearly, they’d hire a guy that would re-vamp the whole system — send the desk job talent evaluators into the field to actually watch (What a concept!) some live action games and make an effort to not appear biased toward any particular team (cough-Florida-cough.)
So first off lets see what commitments or players with interest we have in the Army game.
US Army All-American Bowl
These are guys that have committed to play at Tennessee that will be playing in the game:
DE Jacques Smith
WR Markeith Ambles
K Michael Palardy
DE/T Brandon Willis (soft commit to UT) considering also UNC
As far as prospects with UT in their final list that are announcing at the game we have:
S/CB Demetrius Wright – down to USC and UT
CB Victor Hampton – UT, USCe, and Auburn. USCe leads
LB CJ Mosley – down to UT, Alabama, and Auburn
CB Dior Mathis -between Oregon and Michigan State but says we are in the top four
Guys that still have UT as a possibility but are not ready to make their decisions are:
S Ahmad Dixon
DT Kelcy Quarles
DT Jeffery Whitaker
OT Shon Coleman
OG Damien Robinson
Some updates from the Under Armour game:
Michael Taylor looked like the best linebacker in the game on Saturday. He was everywhere and made the most of the little time he had to play earning defensive MVP for his team for his efforts. JC Shurburtt of ESPN called him “one of the most intense players in the 2010 class.”
Corey Lemonier did not announce — pushing it to signing day — and his roommate, Corey Miller – a UT commit, made the most of his opportunity to recruit Lemonier to Tennessee. Lane Kiffin and Monte Kiffin are said to have paid him a visit just recently and the Vols remain in it. We’ll discuss him more below.
Miller also was recruiting Chaz Green, Dietrich Riley, Christian Jones, and Demar Dorsey. He told the Knoxville News Sentinel “I’d say we’ve got a pretty good shot with Christian Jones and Chaz Green.” and he said it with a smile.
I’m going to focus on the offensive line this week. We will have our usual Rumblings and Ramblings section, but I wanted to hit on the guys that there is the most mystery surrounding. (Are we slow playing James Stone? Does he list us among his favorites? What’s up with the Big Uglies from Olive Branch?)
Let’s start with JuCo lineman John Cullen. I think it’s pretty obvious that he is going to end up in the SEC. If he had truly wanted to go to Utah, he would not be making the extra effort to bang out that Math and English that will transfer into the SEC. He is, and I think that’s the only thing keeping him from being an early enrollee. I haven’t heard anything outside of that about any grade struggles. There are thoughts that he could play center, but I think it’s more likely he ends up at RT next year opposite Aaron Douglas.
As far as what he brings to the table, he is going to be the most likely lineman out of this entire class to start from day one. He has the muscle development, the experience, and the talent. This kid is the #3 ranked JuCo prospect in the nation for a good reason.
Right now Tennessee leads but he still has Auburn and Utah to visit. At this point, I would worry more about Auburn than Utah.
The twin beast studs from Olive Branch. What a secretive bunch these two are. My Memphis Contact told me that he spoke with a reporter responsible for keeping track of Damien Robinson’s recruitment and he said the least of any prospect he’s covered since he’d been doing this. Thanks to a certain Scout writer’s connections at Olive Branch though, we have known about Damien’s interest in UT for quite awhile.
At this point I think they see Damien as a fall-back option. He projects at guard and they seem to like Torrian Wilson (whom we will talk about momentarily) better. I can’t see them taking both Wilson and Robinson because I think they feel good about where they are with James Stone and he is the highest rated guard on their board.
Robinson would need at least a year developing his upper-body strength and working on his pad leverage to play guard. I could see us taking him if we think it would convince his teammate to switch his commitment. Otherwise look for him to wind up instate.
On the flip-side (quite literally, actually) we have Shon Coleman — that teammate we were just discussing — a promising young offensive tackle. He is committed to Auburn but has been entertaining other schools
Coleman is 6’7 and about 270lbs. That’s the perfect size tackle to bring into the program. You don’t want to bring them in over-weight and have to work off bad weight, you want to build that weight up and keep the athleticism that is crucial in the zone blocking scheme.
This kid is all upside. He has a huge frame that can take the additional weight he would have to add to play tackle in the SEC. He is already very strong in the upper-body. His technique needs a lot of work, but that is normal at this stage. He has great feet for his size which speaks to his athleticism and he plays hard every down. He’s a guy that would need to sit a year most likely in order to add weight and strength.
So what is he going to do? If you know, then tell me because I don’t have a clue. Is he going to stick with Auburn? Is he serious about any other schools other than Auburn?
He will be in Knoxville on the 14th for an official visit. Then he is going to Ole Miss on the 21st and he is trying to work out going to Auburn for his final visit. I think he ultimately sticks with Auburn, but it’s a guess.
Then you have Torrian Wilson who committed very early in the process to Stanford due to a connection he had there with his recruiter. He has since de-committed from Stanford and they aren’t on his final list of schools. He’s looking at UT, Michigan, and South Florida mainly. This kid would be a significant upgrade to Jose Jose.
Some have suggested that his grades may have been a factor in his de-commitment. He does carry a 3.5 GPA which is on the low end of acceptance to Stanford, but it would get him into any of the schools he is now considering.
The reason he gives for not wanting to go to Stanford is that it’s just “too far.” That would seem to put Michigan at a disadvantage although they do get his last visit. This is a guy the coaches get if they want and I think they want. He’s a pure guard just like I have been telling you that we were going to target and he has all the tools. This guy was built to run block.
One thing to consider is that his primary recruiter was Eddie Gran. Now it seems that Coach Orgeron has taken over. It’s pretty obvious that relationships are of a whole lot of importance to this prospect and you can be certain the coaches have taken note.
Torrian may be more ready to play guard than any of the other guard prospects we are considering. At 6’4″ 315, he already has the strength and mass he needs to excel there. He plays a little high, but that’s coachable.
Torrian will be in Knoxville on the 14th of January and in Michigan the following week. It will be a signing day decision for him.
Arie Kouandjio is a fascinating prospect for a number of reasons, first, he could play either guard or tackle, in fact, he is playing some center in the Army game practices to “help the team” in any way he can. He would be the guy to take over if Brandon Linder couldn’t play for some reason.
Arie plays with a low pad level and a lot of leverage. His versatility is what sets him apart from the other top offensive line prospects in the class. Arie could play any position on the offensive line. That makes him a very attractive option. Also he just happens to have a younger brother who will be among the most sought-after tackles in next year’s class.
But don’t sell big brother short. He is a legitimate offensive lineman prospect. Just look at the schools that are courting him: Alabama, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Miami, but here is yet another quiet offensive lineman. He doesn’t let on too often which way he is leaning.
Most seem to think that Bama is in the lead with him and have been for some time. The Vols do have a chance though as Arie will give the Vols his final visit on the 29th of January.
He will be visiting to Alabama on January 15th, Miami on the 22nd.
Finally the home town boy, well, home town for myself at least, James Stone. While his coach continues to say that Tennessee is out of it, we are very much still in it with Stone. It seems that the Wilson camp and the Stone camp have different agendas and different ideas on Stone’s recruitment. I honestly don’t think Ralph Wilson is anywhere near as connected to Stone’s recruitment as he thinks he is. I think they feed him stuff to keep him happy and James makes up his own mind on what he thinks and feels.
Unfortunately, Tennessee has many coaches like Ralph Wilson who are in it more for personal glory than the joy of leading young men and setting them on the right path. There are plenty of great coaches out there — don’t get me wrong, but it seems every time I turn around another Tennessee High School coach is putting himself before his program and making bad decisions that affect his players and his school.
At any rate, that’s not the road I want to go down in this piece so we will just say that Wilson is not the one you should listen to when trying to glean information on which way James Stone is leaning. Listen to the Stone camp and the Stone camp is saying that Tennessee is still in it.
You’ve heard me say this many times on Stone if you have paid attention to my posts, Stone is a legitimate talent with huge upside. Most offensive linemen you look at, you are projecting their talent and it’s no different with Stone. He does some things well now, namely run block, but his upside is what has college coaches drooling over the prospect of having him on a roster.
The coaches will be working this one all the way until Signing Day when Stone is said to be deciding.
Rumblings and Ramblings
We still want to add another defensive end to this class. Copeland will likely be a tackle at the next level and that leaves us with just Miller and Smith and there is a possibility Smith starts as a linebacker.
The Vols have been on Corey Lemonier hard for a long time now.
Lemonier was the only guy to get the best of UT prospect (lean IMO) Chaz Green during the UA All-American game and he is the best defensive end that we still have a shot at. The depth chart should appeal to him here as there is a chance to get into the rotation at end very early here and Corey already has a teammate on the team who at one time said the chances of he and Corey playing together at 95%.
Corey’s relationship with Ed Orgeron is solid and he has mentioned that his comfort with his coaches will be a huge factor in his commitment.
The Vols also haven’t given up on TJ Stripling. Stripling is committed to Georgia, but the Vols have been courting him for some time. Now that the Bulldogs are without a defensive coordinator, the coaches have amped up their efforts to get him to visit.
He is “thinking about” taking visits, but seems firm to the Bulldogs. The coaches will put in the work though — we all know that.
The commitment of Marques Dixon took everyone by surprise except for maybe the UT coaches. They have been working this guy for awhile. I think this is the safety prospect that they were looking for all year long. He is extremely athletic, but a little on the small side (5’10” 180) and likely fits better as a free safety than a strong according to the eyeball test. Some have said the Vols got a steal here. Dixon did not play last year for unknown reasons, but coach Lance Thompson has known about him since his sophomore year.
UT has been on a couple of running backs that were not in the picture until just recently. I think that speaks volumes about where they feel they are with the guys left on the board such as Lattimore and Seastrunk. It also speaks to how important they feel it is to add another back in this year’s class.
Rajaan Bennettis one of the guys we are looking at. Kiffin and Thompson were at his school recently to visit with him.
Bennett is a load at 5-foot-11, 210 lbs. He is definitely a bruiser and a guy who fits the cut and go scheme that we employ well. He has deceptive speed, but wouldn’t win many track meets.
He does not yet hold a UT offer and has yet to set up a visit.
The other running back on the radar is Rajian Neal of Sandy Creek in Atlanta. He brings the same big body, downhill running style as Rajaan, but adds some quickness to it with a 4.44 40.
Rajian is currently a Mississippi State commitment, but has been open to looking around.
I think it is safe to say that running back will be our deepest position for the entirety of Kiffin’s tenure here. He is obviously employing the USC approach to the situation.
I think what you will see next year is two backs get a very similar amount of reps in games. They wanted to do that this year with Hardesty and Brown as co-starters, but Hardesty was just too dominant and too successful. To take it out of his hands, you had to be spelling him. He definitely became the featured back over the course of the season.
It will be interesting to see how Williams does coming off of a knee reconstruction. If he’s as good in Spring this year as he was last, he may make a strong case for that second RB spot in the rotation. He was that good last year.
I think you could see some specific packages for David Oku and possibly some empty sets with him split wide or in the slot. We need to take advantage of his ability to move in space. He is a guy who is too talented to just sit on the bench waiting for the 4th quarter in a blowout to get reps. He needs to be involved beyond the return game.
With Bruce Irvin, it came down to the SEC’s extra course requirements. Irvin did not want to delay his admittance until the fall, thus with the distance from home and the ability to get started right away won out. As I told you guys here a couple of weeks ago, he had already decided ASU was not the place for him despite some saying differently and WVU was going to be the option if the transfer requirements were going to be an issue. I don’t think anyone was talking about WVU other than me at that point. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes I don’t. This one I called.
Some have wondered about the Ken Adams situation and what exactly happened. I had said for awhile that we only offered Ken to get Menzie and explained that in detail in a past installment of the Recruiting Fix. It appears even more likely that this is exactly what happened.
When Adams de-committed from Tennessee he said that he hadn’t heard from the Tennessee staff in “weeks” — a clear indication that UT had moved on from Adams. Some have said Adams wants to play DE while Tennessee wanted him at TE and while that is true, the reason he will not be a Vol is due to a decision by the coaches.
Dietrich Riley is headed to USC. Worst kept secret since Dunkley committed to the Gators..
It looks like Ahmad Dixon may be sticking with Baylor after all. Family won in this one. Sucks for Ahmad. He had an opportunity to be showcased, now he’s just going to be the best player on a perennial losing team.
Markeith Ambles will be our first 5 star commit of the year. Book it.
What is next for Brandon Willis? He de-commits from the Vols and now it is being said that he is having second thoughts. The only reason for Brandon not still being a Vol commit is the NCAA review of UT’s hostess practices. Someone has to get into his ear and tell them this is not a big deal. From his comments when he de-committed, he is under the impression secondary violations actually mean something.
This kid is hearing some serious negative recruiting from, most likely UNC, and he needs to be told the truth about what is going on. This is not a big deal in terms of the NCAA. He should know better than anyone those girls were there of their own accord, he was dating one of them. As long as that is the case, then the most this could be is a secondary violation.
The NCAA is digging, but they will not find anything because there is nothing there to find. One aspect of this coaching staff is that they are smart. They aren’t going to do anything to jeopardize the program especially at this early stage and knowing that this could happen by looking at the history of NCAA involvement in programs.
I think all this has been explained to Brandon and he will make a re-commitment at the All-Star game to the Volunteers. No inside information here, just using the ‘ole cabeza. There are a lot of UT prospects/commits at the Army game and you better believe we have them in his ear.
The weekend of the 15th is setting up to be as big as any we had this time last year.
The list of prospects visiting is long and loaded with talent. LB Corey Nelson, WR Markeith Ambles, LB Michael Taylor, OT Shon Coleman, OG Torrian Wilson, LB Ralph Williams, OG Damien Robinson, S Demar Dorsey and ATH Delvin Jones. It will be a great opportunity to bring together a bunch of talented players along with some current commits that it is important we hang on to.
Auburn will be visiting Thompson-Boling on Saturday and you can bet the recruits will take in a game. Be there and be loud for our Vols and our future Vols.
Alabama is going after an elite running back for next year’s class. Expect some head to head battles for some top backs to last the entirety of the year. They just offered Aaron Green from San Antonio whom we were already in the boat on along with everyone who is anyone. They are in on virtually all the top backs for next year’s class. They hope to cash in on Mark Ingram’s Heisman-winning year.
A couple of names that you need to watch on Signing Day: Nickell Robey, Kelcy Quarles. These are the guys most likely to be the Janzen Jackson and Nu’keese Richardsons of the 2010 class.
I know there is some negativity surrounding the Vols’ recruiting efforts right now coming from fans, but you all will get your presents this year, don’t worry. We are setting up for a monster finish and should have several more commitments prior to Signing Day. We have room where others are running out and that bodes well for us with a lot of premier prospects.
Tune in next week, junkies. The plot will thicken.