clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Recruiting Tuesday: A Big Weekend Coming Up?

Note:  Bonus video of Tyler Bray is included after the jump.)

As expected, the Ohio weekend went by quietly.  David Mahoney, a JC defensive tackle from California, expressed interest and tactfully said that UT was on the top of his list, but he is going to take a few more official visits before committing, so there's no reason to expect any news from him for a while.  The other name in town for Ohio was Marcus Lattimore, a five-star running back who is either #2 or #1 in the nation, depending if you prefer Rivals or Scout.  (Either way, he's a good prospect.)  There is currently no news on Lattimore's experience this weekend,but I'm at less than 50% for him coming simply because of having Poole, Williams, Oku and Brown on hand for next year.  (But that's total unfounded speculation on my part.)

But the Auburn weekend has the potential to be a much bigger recruiting weekend for Tennessee - particularly if they look good in a win.    Time permitting and necessity warranting, I'll post an update to the visitor's list near the end of the week, but I do expect it to be a more well-attended game than Ohio.  (For the record, Georgia is shaping up to be the biggest weekend for Tennessee recruiting, but that's down the road.)

So, for now, the board:

Addition

  • Travis Williams - an outside linebacker from Virigina who will be at the Auburn game.  More on him below.

Subtraction

  • Fre'Shad Hunter, a defensive lineman from North Carolina, committed to NC State over the weekend.

Visitors (as of now)

  • Jeff Luc  The top middle linebacker prospect in the country, Luc is one of the most obsessed-over guys left available.  For a long time, Tennessee seemed like a long shot, but the odds seem to have improved recently - from distant to who knows?.  He is supposed to be in town for Auburn, which will get very, very interesting.  As well as Nick Reveiz had been playing, it would have been nice to have him see what a walk-on senior is capable of in a Monte Kiffin offense (much less  the dream child of every D-coordinator in the nation, hint hint wink wink).  But even without Reveiz, Kiffin is a master at using his Mike to lay the wood, and Luc seems to be the kind of linebacker to gravitate towards that.  He's in Eddie Gran's recruiting zone, looking at a Monte Kiffin defense with a Lance Thompson position coach.  Don't count UT out.
  • Travis Williams, OLB  Williams is a 3 to 4-star outside linebacker prospect.  He's quick, but may need a little extra bulk.  He's listed as having an offer, but I have no idea if it's conditional or not, and I really don't have a read on him.  But if the offer is open, UT and Penn State are likely the best two schools on his list, so if UT wants, him they have a reasonable shot at getting him.
  • Dietrich Riley, S  Riley is a 4-star safety out of California who is most likely leaning towards staying in the PAC-10.  Tennessee is the top SEC school on his list, but USC, UCLA and Washington all hold high interest and Notre Dame is in play.  He's fast and stocky, but the big drawback comes in the form of the dreaded 'stiffness issues' term, meaning he doesn't change direction as fast as they'd like.  That may be somewhat correctable through conditioning, but stiffness is one of the more undesirable of the undesirable qualities, so it'll come down to staff evaluation more than anything else.

Tyler Bray

Tyler Bray led his Kinsburg Vikings to a 35-13 trouncing of fellow (formerly) undefeated Corcoran.  The video shows Bray on highlights from 0;47 to 1:23.  Like nearly all high school highlights, it's not anything particularly overwhelmign, but you do see his arm strength and his throwing technique pretty well.  You'll also see the speed difference between high school and college, which will take Bray a little bit of time to adjust to.   (Note:  the video requires a script from kmph.com.  If you are in the habit of blocking scripts, you will either have to allow that one or go to the direct link.)