Tennessee Recruiting: JUCO Wide Receivers Kameel Jackson and Jonathan Johnson Commit To Vols

Wide receiver is a major need for the University of Tennessee football team.

That much was evident this spring when several injuries led to an obvious glaring lack of depth at the position. Couple that with the fact that there appears to be a few busts among the players on the roster and the Vols are looking for bodies at the position.

They further addressed that need Saturday afternoon, accepting commitments from JUCO receivers Kameel Jackson and Jonathan Johnson of Blinn College in Texas. Jackson -- a former Oklahoma Sooner -- is a 2014 prospect who goes in next year's class. He's expected to graduate in December and enroll in time for spring drills in 2014. As for Johnson, he is a potential immediate-help player who can come in and compete in '13, and his offer is contingent on him graduating in May or this summer according to Ryan Callahan of 247 Sports.

Nobody is denying that Tennessee needs to go out and stock up on wide receivers who are capable of playing in this league. But how many? It's a question many UT recruitniks want to know with freshman Paul Harris on campus, fellow freshmen MarQuez North, Ryan Jenkins and Josh Smith set to arrive this summer and commitments from Vic Wharton, Lawrence Lee and Neiko Creamer [who could play defense] in this year's class. The Vols also remain high on the list of Josh Malone, Demarre Kitt and Dominique Booth, among others, so it's interesting to see developments like Saturday afternoon's -- especially with so many other needs on the roster.

But the Vols had some scholarships to give immediately, which is why we're seeing the development with Johnson.

While not much is out there on Johnson, Jackson actually seems like a pretty solid prospect if he can keep his head on straight and keep up his grades. He is originally from Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas, and he committed to Oklahoma in 2011. He is a 6-foot, 198-pound target with sub-4.5 speed and had offers from Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas A&M and the Sooners.

Jackson was good enough to play for Oklahoma as a true freshman, finishing with 12 catches for 165 yards and started two games. He was suspended indefinitely by coach Bob Stoops for unspecified violation of team rules. As far as leaving Norman on good terms, this article doesn't exactly sound like he and Stoops will be exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon. Stoops goes a bit more in depth here, too.

“He shouldn't be on Twitter when he's making a foolish statement,” Stoops said last week before speaking at the Sooner Caravan in Plano. “He's making a statement that he shouldn't be making when he's already been suspended for eight or 10 games. He didn't detail that on his Twitter.”

“‘Since I can't play this year, maybe I'll go somewhere else,'” Stoops said when describing Jackson's thought process. “Then he decides, or realizes, he'll have to sit out next year too (if he transfers).

“That isn't why he's coming back; maybe parents or other influences realize, ‘It's all your fault. If you want to go to class and do simple things that you're able to do, you can play here.'”

Jackson wound up transferring to Louisiana-Monroe, but he left there to get his grades up at a junior college, according to this article. Here are a couple of his high school profiles here and here. According to Oklahoma fans, he is a very good wide receiver who runs good routes, has good hands and is deceptively fast, but he has a history of having a bad attitude and grades issues. Obviously, there are some maturity things that need to be worked out if UT will be his fourth college program. This is really the first kid that Butch Jones has taken with a history of questionable character decisions. Hopefully, he'll realize this is his last chance.

As for Johnson, he is a 5-10, 180-pound receiver from Friendswood, Texas, who is on pace to graduate in 2013 and be ready to help the Vols this year. If not, he isn't a take, according to several reports. Johnson was a full qualifier out of high school according to this article, but he decided he didn't want to go to any school and felt like he deserved to be on a Division I team.

Now, he'll get his chance if his grades are in order. The Vols are hoping both kids wind up being solid pick-ups. Welcome to Big Orange Country, fellas.