2015 Recruiting Class

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Elsewhere in the recruiting universe, it was big news that offensive lineman Pat Allen came out of his Georgia visit saying nothing was decided and that he had some 'evaluating' to do and that he would announce a final decision at the Semper Fi Game at the beginning of January.

Tennessee is very much in the thick of this race and as we've said for weeks now it would be important for the Vols to survive that visit. They did just that and heading down the stretch it's hard not to at least feel like the Vols may be trending here.

Allen will still have his in-home visits before an announcement so this is certainly a recruitment we're going to monitor over the next four weeks before the dead period.

-Hubbs

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Pat-Allen-138780

 

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"It definitely put them in a great spot to land me," Kirkland said. "I had a great visit this past weekend with my family. They loved every bit of it, especially with the education side as well as athletically. They loved spending time with Coach Butch Jones, Coach (Tommy) Thigpen and really the whole staff."

"Tennessee had always been in contact," Kirkland said. "They offered me last (winter) and were one of my leaders before I committed to Michigan, so I was excited about them in the first place. Really in the last month and a half when I opened things up they were making a push. They show me a lot of love and their fan base shows me a lot of love."

"Their recruiting class speaks for itself," Kirkland said. "Pushing toward Signing Day they have a really good chance to sign a lot of great guys. I see the potential that they played with this past weekend and see the pieces coming together."

"I was hanging with Jack Jones and unofficial (visitor) Kyle Phillips," Kirkland said. "We spent the night after the game together and were really talking a lot.

"Jack Jones really wants me to be a teammate and he is a great player on the o-line. Kyle Phillips was the same way. We were just talking how we could control things coming in together with him being on d-line and me being at linebacker."

"His family connected with my family and they just talked about what their experience has been like," Kirkland said. "My parents loved it and he has a great family. T.K. is a great player and he played very well, so I was proud of him to see that. He was just telling me the Vols really want me and he's excited to hopefully be my teammate in the future."

The 6-foot-1, 233-pound Kirkland is ranked as the No. 7 inside linebacker in the 2015 class. He accumulated 105 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and three interceptions as a senior despite missing several games due to an ankle injury.

-VQ

 

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Okeke is going to be a very good DB prospect. He will be highly recruited. He is new to the DB position. UT offering first will be huge in this case.

-VQ

 

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Dammit, wrong thread, Okeke is a 2016 prospect.

 

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2018 prospect:

Now the 6-foot, 185-pound athlete has emerged as one of the state's top freshman football prospects while starring as a varsity receiver for the Brentwood Academy Eagles.

Johnson has caught 25 passes for 587 yards and nine touchdowns to lead a Eagles squad that began the year with modest expectations following the loss of several seniors, the transfer of four-star prospect C.J. Sanders to California and injuries of seniors Dawson Knox and Jordan James, to a surprising 8-1 record and a Top 30 national ranking.

Already considered a Top 50 national player in the 2018 class by several early college basketball recruiting networks, Johnson knows the question of which sport does he plan to play in college will be there. He says he'd like to play both if possible at the next level, but recognizes that he's still very young in the process and will have to weight those options when they come.

Johnson's success on the gridiron may be a surprise to some on the high school scene, but just like with basketball, the young phenom was also successful in football as he and fellow Eagles freshman Daniel Taylor played in the Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl in San Antonio back in January. Johnson also played for Team Tennessee in the Football University-East Bay Tournament.

-Rivals

https://rivals.yahoo.com/tennessee/...nson-166969;_ylt=AuF4WALFIie10jjPXn.O3q.qt5B4

 

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Chase Hayden - Yahoo! Sports

 

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Oak Park, Mich., three-star ATH John Kelly reports a new offer from Tennessee this morning. The interesting thing here is Kelly is very close with four-star RB Mike Weber, who just de-committed from Michigan this past weekend. The coaches at Detroit Cass Tech told me earlier this week Tennessee has been in contact about Weber this week so it sounds like things may be heating up with a pair of Detroit area 2015 recruits.

-Rivals

John Kelly - Yahoo! Sports

Mike Weber - Yahoo! Sports

 

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Preston Williams - Yahoo! Sports

 

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Thigpen met with Quarte Sapp and we continue to believe the Vols are a major player there. As we've said, we are going to wait and see if anyone else throws their hat in this race like Florida State or Texas A&M, but Tennessee is in a good spot right now with the Georgia linebacker.

-Hubbs

 

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Kirkland, a former Michigan commitment who reopened his recruitment last month, posted a picture on his Twitter account Thursday night that showed him posing with Jones, Tennessee linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen and defensive line coach Steve Stripling.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Kirkland — a projected early enrollee who's planning to announce his college choice Jan. 3 at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio — already has taken official visits to Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Tennessee, most recently visiting the Vols the weekend of Nov. 22. He's scheduled to travel to Texas on Friday for an official visit with the Longhorns, and USC currently is scheduled to host him on the last of his five official visits next weekend.

Tennessee recently has emerged as the favorite to land Kirkland on the 247Sports Crystal Ball, with 48 percent of his current predictions going to the Vols, 30 percent going to Michigan and Ole Miss getting 10 percent.

He's ranked the nation's No. 178 overall prospect and No. 4 inside linebacker in the 247Sports Composite for the 2015 class.

-247

 

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Elsewhere, and this had been scheduled for some time, Tennessee had three coaches in Michigan recruiting several players. Gillespie met with running backs Mike Weber and John Kelly. As of Thursday night we were still awaiting word on how the visit went but we understand the Vols were hoping to nail down an official visit for the pair.

-Hubbs