Nation's #1 wide receiver Kyle Prater to visit Tennessee

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 10, 2010 12:51 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football

As I mentioned earlier this morning by way of a FanShot, Kyle Prater's subpar performance in yesterday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl was understandable due to the dude being a complete wreck over Saturday's revelation that Pete Carroll will likely be leaving USC for the Seattle Seahawks. Prater was so committed to Carroll and USC that he was set to enroll on Monday. Upon hearing about Carroll's departure, Prater decommitted and said he'd be looking around.

Scout is now reporting that Prater will indeed be visiting Tennessee, perhaps as early as this week, and from the sound of some of his quotes, he's not just looking for somewhere to land this fall, he's looking to land now:

"I’m supposed to enroll tomorrow at USC," Prater said. "Instead I’m headed back home to figure out what to do. I’m not sure whether I will sit out a year or try to get enrolled another school in a week’s time."

Apparently, it's between us and Illinois now, so cross your fingers. It's no wonder why he's interested in Tennessee. Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron helped Carroll build what's just been pulled out from under Prater's feet, and they're starting anew in Knoxville. The attraction to Illinois? Well. Hmm. Dude likes orange?

Prater is a 6'5", 205-pound wide receiver who runs the 40 in 4.55 seconds. Scout gives him five stars and has him listed as the #2 WR in the nation. Rivals also gives him five stars and has him listed as the #1 WR and #2 player overall in the nation.

By the way, this morning's FanShot also indicated that Dillon Baxter and D.J. Morgan have also both decommitted from USC and are up for grabs.

YouTubes below, but listen/watch at your own risk, as I haven't reviewed them for content.

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Illinois is Prater's home state.

Most recruits usually keep their home state’s school (or one of them, if there are several) in consideration. But if he was prepared to leave the state once, it should be easier to convince him to do so otherwise.

by David Hooper on Jan 10, 2010 12:54 PM EST reply actions

Ah

Thanks. This is good news, though, no? I just added that picture of the Rock you had from an earlier post.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 10, 2010 12:56 PM EST up reply actions

Oh, yes. This is good news.

Kiffin has two selling points: (1) that he has a fantastic staff that develops a pro-style offense and is geared toward sending players NFL-ward; and (2) that he is early in his building phase at UT and won’t be going anywhere for a while.

And looking on the offensive side of the ball, Kippy should look good as a position coach and Jim Chaney, who has had a tremendous career as an offensive coordinator, tends to stay very loyal to his employer and isn’t one for the coaching ladder. Where USC lost him due to instability, Tennessee is very, very stable. And it sounds like he wants to enroll early, which means by Wednesday for Tennessee.

I have no idea if we’ll get him, but I like the odds. And somebody better have that rock painted again.

by David Hooper on Jan 10, 2010 1:08 PM EST up reply actions

By the way, I wouldn't make too much of his earlier comments about Tennessee not being in consideration.

At the time, USC was pretty much the only consideration. The others at the time were Oklahoma and ND. I don’t know his opinion on Brian Kelly, but at the very least, Tennessee should be considered a legitimate possibility, especially if he’s visiting here and still wants to enroll early.

by David Hooper on Jan 10, 2010 1:15 PM EST reply actions

That

is great news……..so is he saying he would sit out a year? Does he have to do that?

Kentucky bretheren united once again! Thanks Cal!

by tenken on Jan 10, 2010 3:13 PM EST reply actions

Not sure, really

But I think it shows how important early enrollment is/was to him.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 10, 2010 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

And no, he doesn't have to do that

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 10, 2010 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

Would

not that be a bad thing to sit out a year?

Kentucky bretheren united once again! Thanks Cal!

by tenken on Jan 10, 2010 4:30 PM EST reply actions

He's saying that if he doesn't enroll early this time around, he may actually decide to wait a year before enrolling anywhere.

I think he likes the early enrollment process so that he can get a jump start on grades and learn the offensive system for a few months before a real game. My guess is that he’s been told that early enrollment correlates well to first-year playing time and good production.

But it could also be that he was looking forward to EE at USC and still has hopes of doing that somewhere. The Carroll departure has him spun around pretty good right now, so a little leeway on his comments is advisable.

by David Hooper on Jan 10, 2010 5:03 PM EST up reply actions

Please

forgive me because I am probably not thinking right but if he is a senior…….and waits a whole year before starting school…..he cannot play till 2011 right? So no football . I am probably missing something.

Kentucky bretheren united once again! Thanks Cal!

by tenken on Jan 11, 2010 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

No, that's right.

He doesn’t have to enroll early to play in 2010, but he’d have to at least enroll by the fall. He did make a comment about waiting out a year (which would at least preserve the 5 years of eligibility). I don’t know if he really meant ‘wait until the fall’, though. It’s hard to tell for a guy who watched his USC dreams go up in smoke over a weekend.

It’ll all depend on whether he’s comfortable committing anywhere else in such a short time. I don’t envy his position.

by David Hooper on Jan 11, 2010 12:27 AM EST up reply actions