This is a way early, way rough draft of potential recruiting targets (ARGH! Recruiting rears it's ugly head: I'm referring to high school kids as targets!) for Tennessee's class of 2008. Right now it only includes current Tennessee commitments and players from the Rivals 100 with Tennessee listed as a school of interest. It's the first installment of what I hope to make regular recruiting coverage, refer to the CFAJ 6 Maxims of recruiting coverage for questions. This list and information will expand and deepen as time and availability allows ... in other words, it's a work in progress.
In the future, I plan to break the list up into separate tables by position, a al Brian's Michigan recruiting board at MGoBlog, just because I like to steal his ideas, which is pretty much what I've done with this whole thing, anyway.
You'll notice that guys who have committed elsewhere but had UT in their list are in this table; I considered tracking guys like that to see who Tennessee ended up missing out on, but decided against it because I believe recruiting is about who you get, not who you don't get. So those guys will be removed in the future. Tennessee committs are highlighted in gray (orange was just too much).
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A starting place: 2008 Rivals Top 100 w/UT interest and current UT commits
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| Name | From | Pos. | Ht./Wt. | Schools | Notes |
| Braden Hanson |
Charlotte (NC) Latin | QB | 6-6/200 | Ala, Aub, UGa, Mizzou, NC St., NC, ND, Pitt, Tenn, Vandy, UVa | QB not a priority, but his name reminds me of Ned Braden and the Hanson Brothers from Slapshot, so I like him. |
| Josh Haden |
Fort Washington (MD) Friendly |
RB | 5-7/190 | Fla, BC, OSU, VPI, Ill, MD, NC, Tenn | UF lean, BC, OSU, VPI in mix |
| Richard Samuel |
Cartersville (GA) Cass |
RB | 6-0/197 | UGa, (Aub, Clem, Fla, Tenn) | Bulldog for a while now |
| Tauren Poole |
Toccoa (GA) Stephens County |
RB | 5-10/194 | Tenn, (Aub, Clem, GT, UGa) | UT commit since Oct. '06($) |
| Ben Bartholomew |
Nashville (TN) MBA |
RB | 6-3/225 | Tenn | Legacy, see also Will and Sam Bartholomew |
| DeAndre Brown |
Ocean Springs (MS) Ocean Springs |
WR | 6-6/208 | Ala, Aub, Fla, LSU, Mia, Miss, MS St, S. Carol, Tenn | Top player in MS likes LSU, Fla, Aub, FSU, S. Carol |
| Chris Tolliver |
Rayville (LA) Rayville |
WR | 6-1/180 | Ala, Fla, FSU, UGa, LSU, Tenn | Has offers from every SEC school but Vandy. Guess he's not quite up to 'Dore standards. |
| Aaron Douglas |
Maryville (TN) Maryville |
TE | 6-6/245 | Tenn, (Miss) | Another legacy: Dad, uncle played for UT, mom played for Summitt; also led Maryville to 3A basketball title. |
| Stephen Good |
Paris (TX) Paris |
OL | 6-5/290 | Okla, (Uga, Neb, ND, Tenn, TX, TAMU, UCLA) | Need linemen in this class, but this one's going to OkU. |
| Gregory Shaw |
Miami (FL) Pace |
OL | 6-6/285 | Fla, FSU, GT, L'ville, Mia, NC, OSU, Tenn, UCF, WVa | Need linemen in this class, but this one's "anxious to visit($)" OSU. |
| Ryan Williams |
Manassas (VA) Stonewall Jackson |
Ath | 5-10/192 | Clem, MD, Mia, ND, Pitt, Tenn, UVa, VPI | Doesn't talk about recruiting. One of those kids. |
| JT Floyd |
Greenville (SC) | Ath | 5-11/176 | Tenn, (FSU, ND, VPI, S. Carol.) | UT commit, but did attend S. Carol,'s junior day |
| DaQuan Bowers |
Bamberg (SC) Bamberg-Ehrhardt |
DT | 6-4/267 | Clem, (Fla, FSU, UGa, OSU, Penn St, S. Carol, Tenn, VPI) | Solid to Clemson. Who needs huge, fast, dominating d-linemen, anyway? |
| Stacey McGee |
Muskogee (OK) | DT | 6-5/280 | Ark, KU, ND, Okla, OK St, Tenn, TX Tech | As a Haggard fan, an Okie from Muskogee is high on my list, but he's said to like OkU. |
| DeAngelo Tyson | Statesboro (GA) Statesboro |
DT | 6-2/276 | UGa, (Aub, Clem, Fla, GT, S. Carol, Tenn) | UGa commit, see also Bowers. |
| Robert Quinn |
North Charleston (SC) Fort Dorchester |
DE | 6-5/245 | Aub, Clem, Fla, MD, NC, S. Carol, Tenn, VPI | Been to S. Carol's and Aub's JR day, will be at O/W game, holds lots of offers. I promise not to call him "Quinn the Eskimo." |
| Shayne Hale |
Monroeville (PA) Gateway |
LB | 6-3/218 | Fla, Mich, NC, ND, OSU, Penn St, Pitt, Tenn, UVa | Has offers($) from 25 schools. |
| Marlon Walls |
Memphis (TN) Wooddale |
LB | 6-3/213 | Aub, Fla, Miss, Tenn | Doesn't sound like he'll stay in state. |
| Austin Johnson |
Hickory (NC) | LB | 6-3/235 | Tenn, (NC, Aub, Colo, UGa, GT, N.C. St.) | Vol commit since last fall |
| T.J. Bryant |
Tallahassee (FL) Lincoln |
DB | 6-0/175 | Ala, Aub, Clem, Fla, FSU, UGa, LSU, Mia, ND, Okla, USC, Tenn | Hard to get a kid out of Tallahassee if FSU wants him. He's a track star, too. |
| Boubacar Cissoko |
Detroit (MI) Cass Tech | DB | 5-9/170 | Mich, (Iowa, Mich St, OSU, Penn St, Tenn) | Solid to Mich, which is good b/c I won't have to learn how to pronounce his name. |
| Patrick Johnson |
Pompano Beach (FL) Ely |
DB | 6-0/180 | Clem, Fla, FSU, UGa, OSU, Miss, S. Carol, Tenn | Was erroneously reported to have signed with Mia, then removed from the story. Oh, the fun of recruiting. |
Any recruitniks out there, feel free to comment on any of these kids, but please do not share info that isn't public knowledge, ie, stuff that is written in premium articles on subscription sites. Also, suggestions on kids who should be added as I expand the list (or corrections on the info I have here) would be great.
One more thing: what do y'all see as the biggest positions of need for this class? I think we gotta get some offensive linemen. D-tackles are always nice, too. QBs are fun to follow, but I don't think it's a need right now. What do you think?