Tennessee Football Recruiting: Vols Lose 4-Star DE LaBryan Ray to Alabama

Tennessee football lost its fourth major National Signing Day target Wednesday afternoon when LaBryan Ray committed to the Crimson Tide over the Volunteers.

With the hits that began Tuesday night, Tennessee football was not about to gain any magic Wednesday afternoon.

The Vols lost out on LaBryan Ray as he committed to Alabama.

The Tide were the favorite to land the four-star defensive end the whole time, but his long time to commit and the news that Trey Smith was trying to recruit him over the weekend led Vols fans to hold out hope.

That hope never came.

Ray announced his commitment Wednesday afternoon.

A four-star on Rivals, LaBryan Ray would have been a huge boost to the defensive line. He was clearly the best prospect still on the Vols’ board.

Standing in at 6’4″ 260 pounds, the strongside defensive end could have come in and competed immediately for a starting job or at least a spot in the rotation.

He is a Top 50 player overall on Rivals and the No. 2 player in the nation at his position.

But he is from Madison, Ala., and there was no way Nick Saban would let the top player in the state of Alabama leave if he wanted him.

And he wanted him badly.

So no amount of recruiting by Butch Jones or Trey Smith could have changed that.

The Vols still have an incredibly deep defensive line class committed for this year, so they still have a lot to be excited about.

But Ray would have been a huge pickup.