Recruiting Tuesday: The Calm Before

As expected, recruiting news has slowed down to a near-halt.  Football season is also the season for official visits, and recruits that haven't already made their decisions are going to get at least one free game in before declaring anything.  So, much like last week, this week sees more trimming than anything else.

Kyle Prater

The big news right now is the impending decision from Kyle Prater.  On Wednesday, he will announce his commitment; the common suspicion is that he will declare for USC - a move that no kid can be blamed for making, given the way the Pete Carroll juggernaut rolls over the PAC-meh.  Tennessee is probably the second option on his list, though that is just as speculative as having USC as his first option right now.

Other news comes after the jump.  But first, the board:

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

Removed

• Anthony Barr, RB  Barr is a VHT from California who has trimmed UT off his list in favor of the West Coast schools, Michigan, and Notre Dame.
• Wayne Dorsey, DE  Dorsey is a JUCO defensive end from Mississippi who is focusing on schools closer to home.  Given the current recruiting depth on the UT defensive line, this is not a surprising move.
• Brandon Doughty, QB At one point, I had placed a lot of quarterbacks on the list shortly after the Scroggins-B-Gone panic.  Doughty was one of those.  With the lack of an offer from UT and the apparent zeroing in on Brunetti and Bray, it seems appropriate to pull Doughty off the list.
• Luc Colbert, QB  Just like Doughty, Colbert was a product of the "what now?" panic.  He also does not have an offer, and he is more likely headed to Vanderbilt anyway.
• Tyler Shreve, QB Same as the previous two.  He really wants to go to Oregon, but he's really more pro-style and his best offer is Colorado State.  Not a likely choice for UT at the moment.
• Cassius Marsh, DT Marsh is another California native who's highest on Berkeley.  At this point, it's safe to say that UT is out of the picture.

Nobody was removed because they committed to another school, just as nobody was added for committing to UT.

Adjusted

• J.R. Ferguson (DE) --> Ego Ferguson  In a move that I do not understand, J.R. Ferguson has been relisted as Ego Ferguson on the recruiting sites.  He's a defensive end from Hargrave and the name change occurred between August 16 and August 24 on Scout.  For whatever reason, it happened.
• T.J. Leifheit --> Bubble Watch  T.J. is about to be taken off the board.  His interests are leaning toward LSU, North Carolina, and USC; Scout has reduced his list to these three.  I'm going to wait a bit to see if Rivals and ESPN follow suit, but he's almost certainly headed elsewhere.

A year ago, I would have probably pulled a lot of other names off the list as well (e.g. LaMarcus Joyner, who is highest on Florida State and Ohio State at the moment).  However, the Nu'Keese/Marsalis coup, the Janzen grab, and the Bryce snag have taught me to be more patient.  I'm not likely to list other schools' commitments (e.g. Nu'Keese) because there would be far too many to keep track of.  However, they're always worth keeping an eye on, and if any appear to be showing UT some extra attention, I'll at least open up the discussion.