Tennessee makes the cut for four-star cornerback Khamauri Rogers

With a finalized staff in place, work on Tennessee’s 2022 recruiting class is full steam ahead. Josh Heupel is working on building back relationships in-state and beyond, setting the groundwork for his future in Knoxville.

One of the biggest needs on his initial roster comes on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback. Bryce Thompson left early for the NFL, while Key Lawrence opted to transfer to Oklahoma. Veterans Alontae Taylor, Kenneth George, Shawn Shamburger and Warren Burrell remain, but Heupel and new defensive coordinator Tim Banks need to restock this room pretty quickly going forward.

Enter Khamauri Rogers, one of the highest ranked players at the cornerback position in the 2022 cycle. The 6-1, 168 pound defensive back out of Mississippi narrowed his choices to ten schools on Thursday, and the Volunteers made the cut.

Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Miami, Georgia, UCF, Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Oklahoma are also in the running.

Rogers is the 65th ranked player in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the top ranked player in the state of Mississippi and the seventh-ranked cornerback in the class. Miami, LSU and Ole Miss have each received crystal ball projections for Rogers.

Tennessee first offered Rogers all the way back in April of 2019. Derrick Ansley was the lead recruiter on the case for the Vols under Jeremy Pruitt. Now with Josh Heupel in place, Tim Banks and Willie Martinez will now have a chance to make an impression. There’s a long way to go here, but at least they’ve got a fighting chance.

File this name away for later in the year.