2016 Recruiting Class

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Clay said Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio State and Florida make up his current group of favorites, and he enjoyed his relatively brief visit with the Vols on Saturday even more than either of his previous stops at UT.

“It was better than a game, because I got to spend more one-on-one time with (defensive backs) coach (Willie) Martinez and Coach Butch (Jones) and the rest of the staff,” said Clay, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 217 overall prospect and No. 21 cornerback in the 247Sports Composite for the 2016 class.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen the facility and everything, and it’s crazy. It’s beautiful, with all the new stuff up there at Tennessee.”

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Clay said he had heard about Tennessee’s state-of-the-art Anderson Training Center, but he hadn’t seen it in person during his visits for the Vols’ home games against Alabama and Missouri last season.

“I mean, I’ve heard about (Tennessee’s facilities), and I’ve heard from other recruits I’m friends with. We talk about it. Everybody talks about how nice Tennessee is now,” Clay said.

“That was my first time getting to see it in person. … It helped them a lot, because I had seen pretty much all the other schools.”

He said Tennessee has made him a high priority over the past several months.

“They seem like they really want me a lot, because they always ask me to come up there,” said Clay, who has received scholarship offers from more than 20 teams. “They seem like they really want me a lot, and they just really talk about playing me early. If I can do it, then they’ll put me in there early.”

While Clay said his previous trips to Knoxville had shown him that Tennessee has “probably one of the best” game-day environments he has experienced — “either the best or around the best” — he said that’s not the only reason he likes the Vols.

“I just like Tennessee, of course, football-wise,” he said. “But off-the-field-wise, Knoxville just seems like a great place to live. I like the campus. I love the people up there, and just the environment around Tennessee football. They’ve got some of the greatest fans in the world, and that’s always a good thing up there at the University of Tennessee.”

“Coach Butch, really, I think he’s getting Tennessee back to how (former coach) Phillip Fulmer had it. I think he’s getting Tennessee back to those days.”

Clay, who also went to Florida last month and has visited Georgia twice since Feb. 21, said he’s “definitely going to come back up for a spring practice or something” at Tennessee. And he’s currently hoping to decide on a college within the next few months.

“I’m planning on graduating early, so I’m going to probably make a decision by May or June,” he said, adding that he will narrow his focus to five finalists sometime before then. “I’ll be probably just visiting my top schools (before then), and then, after visiting my top schools with both of my parents and all the coaches, I’ll make a decision then.”

- 247

 

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http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-D'Vaughn-Pennamon-164896

 

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Chanse Sylvie - Yahoo! Sports

 

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The three-star junior offensive tackle from Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, Ga., said he likes Tennessee “a whole lot more” after visiting the Vols for the first time Saturday to attend their junior day, and they’re “definitely one of my top schools” at this point.

“It was a great experience,” said Cochran, who’s a teammate of Tennessee cornerback signee Micah Abernathy. “Loved the coaching staff. The facilities were amazing. Everything about it felt just right. I enjoyed it a lot.

“I mean, they were my first offer, so I had to have interest in them. But coming up here and seeing the school definitely furthered my interest and made me like the school a whole lot more. They’re definitely one of my top schools. I’m not quite sure on my top schools, but they’re just really impressive — very impressive.”

The 6-foot-7, 305-pound Cochran said he was particularly impressed by the Vols’ facilities, including the Anderson Training Center.

“Even though Micah already told me about the facilities, I mean, I walked in and saw that huge, amazing facility — great inside, great weight room,”

- 247

 

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“Tennessee and Georgia*are my No. 1 schools right now,” Hardman told InsideTennessee. “Not right now with them.Auburn*is right behind, maybe my third school. Schools are still coming up. I’ve just got to make my visits.”

“Coach Jones, he’s a laid back, cool dude. Really one of the cooler coaches you’ll ever be around. He knows what he wants, and he’s about business. He’s bringing Tennessee up to the top. So, you know you really have to respect that about him.”

“Yeah, we talk about it all the time,” Hardman said. “All of us Georgia boys all together, we all talk about we should go to the same school and make an impact. Of course Tennessee comes into play along with Georgia, just throwing schools out there, not saying we’re going to any one of them schools. We’ve been talking about it. Sometimes it don’t go the way you want it to go, but everybody’s got Tennessee on their minds.”

- Scout

 

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Jaleel Laguins - Yahoo! Sports

"(Butch Jones) said, 'This is more than a family thing,' and I was thinking, 'I've heard that a few times.' Then, I actually saw how he talked and that everything they went through was about family," Laguins explained. "Like coach (John) Jancek, he messaged me, 'Hope you had fun today and make it home safely.' Then, the next morning he checked up on me again and made sure I made it home. It's like they actually care about you more than just a player.

"That's extremely important because I want to go to a school where I feel like it's home. I don't want to go to a school and be miserable for four years and not like my position coach. I don't want that to happen. I want to go to school, get a good education and feel like I'm at home. "

"It was really fun, actually," Laguins said. "When you usually meet with a head coach like coach Jones you're usually only in there for about five minutes at the most because they are trying to see as many recruits as they can in a short period of time. But, in a junior day you can sit there and talk to them for 30 minutes because you have more time. You can sit there and get to know them and talking to coach Jones was good."

"When I first got offered by Tennessee I didn't think too much of it," Laguins explained, "and then I went on my first visit and I thought it was a pretty nice school and then actually after sitting down with the coaches and talking about my education and how I could graduate early from there and then get my masters there. At Tennessee, if you work hard and stay out of trouble, you end up set for life at Tennessee."

-VQ

 

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Brick by brick, my brother in orange.

 

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Keyshawn Johnson Jr. - Yahoo! Sports

 

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Jamyest Williams - Yahoo! Sports

 

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