Recruiting Tuesday: Trimming the Fat

by David Hooper on Aug 25, 2009 11:00 AM EDT in Tennessee Volunteers Recruiting

Entering this weekend, the recruiting board had 48 prospects on the list that were not specfically committed to Tennessee. With a maximum of 12 (28 maximum - 16 commits) possible roster slots left to fill, it's rather obvious that most names on the board will not go to UT. So it should come as no surprise that more names were removed this week than added. Four prospects committed to other programs, and two have been added for watch list purposes.

We have entered the slow phase for recruiting, where the season is so close that the remaining prospects can wait to see how the team looks before deciding. There are not many prospects left who will arrive on campus in January, but those that do will probably decide very early in the season. The UCLA game is probably UT's most important game for recruiting purposes, as it gives the recruits their first chance to see UT against a respectable opponent. So long as UT looks to be on an upward path, that should settle the decision for many players. There will also be a lot of recruits in town on their official visit during the UCLA game, and their opinion of the entire gameday weekend will be central to their decision.

Bare Minimum Needs for the remaining scholarships.

If the recruiting class were to end with only the current list of commits, most positions would have sufficient depth to feel comfortable. That's not to say that they couldn't use more; I'm just saying that they aren't critically low. Some positions, however, absolutely must get more recruits:

Quarterback, obviously. I'd be happy with one, though two would give a four-deep for the 2010 year.
Center/Guard Somewhere here, we need at least two more. Three more would give the Vols three-deep across the entire offensive line (which we currently project to have at tackle). Two more would give a virtual three-deep, where a couple of players might be asked to switch roles as injury concerns dictate.
Long Snapper UT's only scholarshipped long snapper (Morgan Cox) is a senior. JR Carr is a walk-on sophomore listed as a long snapper, but that's all the information we have available. We don't need a long snapper to come in with a scholarship, necessarily, but it is a position that will need to be answered, at the very least, with a backup to Carr for 2010.

The board is after the jump, along with a list of updates and explanations.

View Rocky Top Talk Tennessee Volunteers Recruiting Big Board 2010 in a larger map

ADDED

Dior Mathis, a cornerback prospect from Detroit. Honestly, this guy is a long shot at best. He favors Michigan State and Stanford more than UT right now. However, reading the tea leaves made me feel like he'd be worth watching for a bit, so on the board he goes.
Zak Tait, an offensive guard prospect from Knoxville Catholic. He's one of the better guards in the nation and he's a local from the same school as Daniel Hood. The problem with rating guards this early is that almost none of them are ever matured enough by their junior year to be able to project them into college. He doesn't have a UT offer yet, and I think the staff is waiting to see how he looks this year. Local Knoxvillians should keep an eye on him to see if he might help out at guard - one of about 3 positions that currently looks to be thin on the depth chart in 2010.

REMOVED

Calvin Barnett: committed to Oklahoma State
Tyrone Cornileus: committed to Miami
Justin McCay: committed to Oklahoma
Robert Woods: committed to USC

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Comments

Why'd you guys pass

on Damien Thigpen last year? Do you have players that already fill the roles he would fit into? He’s a small, very fast running back and an excellent return guy.

He’s been having an absolutely spectacular summer here at UCLA. He was probably one of the best overall players in fall scrimmage. He returned a punt and a kick all the way, and another kick all the way to the defense’s 35 (I know, coverage problems, but still…). He also averaged about 6 yards a carry running the ball and was making plays where it looked like there was nowhere to go. He also recently ran back to back 40s at 4.31 and 4.28.

So what happened?

by captainqtp on Aug 25, 2009 6:54 PM EDT reply actions

We don't know.

Here’s our knee-jerk story at the time that UT basically advised him to look elsewhere.

In hindsight, the only thing I could guess at is that the staff had a strong gut feeling that they would pick up Nu’Keese instead (and that Oku was likely to recommit/sign/whatever Oku does). Between those two, Thigpen’s skillsets were pretty well covered, so perhaps it really was better for him to find a place like UCLA, where he’s not just one of several.

I don’t mean any of that to be critical of Thigpen or UCLA – just trying to come up with a plausible explanation. That’s about the best I can do without knowing what went on behind closed doors.

by David Hooper on Aug 25, 2009 7:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Hmm

I wondered if it might be something along those lines. I know at this point, we’re all feeling like we lucked out.

by captainqtp on Aug 25, 2009 7:48 PM EDT reply actions

It could be just about anything.

They usual ‘bad attitude’ speculation went around, but we have no more indication of that than any other theory, so I don’t really like to draw much attention to it. Besides, he stayed committed to UT throughout the coaching change, so it’s hard to make that theory stick.

We sincerely do hope the best for him and a brilliant career after September 12th. ;-)

by David Hooper on Aug 25, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions