Tennessee Football Recruiting: Vols Lose 4-Star DT Aaron Sterling to South Carolina Amid Confusion

Despite confusion on National Signing Day, Tennessee football lost out on four-star target Aaron Sterling, who chose South Carolina over the Volunteers.

After losing four-star defensive tackle Elijah Conliffe to the Florida Gators and three-star athlete JaVonta Payton to the Ole Miss Rebels, Butch Jones and Tennessee football lost out on four-star defensive tackle Aaron Sterling.

It was not as disappointing as the other two losses since many Vols expected this, but Sterling announced his commitment to South Carolina.

The commitment wasn’t without confusion, though.

The Gamecocks jumped the gun on the Sterling announcement, though, as they had announced it before a commitment was made. 

Then, they took that down, and the Vols announced as if Sterling had committed to Tennessee due to a ‘graphic mistake.’

At 6’1″ 260 pounds, Sterling is smaller than other defensive linemen, which is why he was a three-star across many other recruiting services.

However, he was a four-star on Rivals because of his versatility, and he would have provided a ton of depth to the Tennessee football defensive line.

Committing to South Carolina is understandable when you consider the fact that he did not have as much competition to play early, and under Will Muschamp, he would be playing under a system that allows him to shine.

As a result, this was probably a good move on his part.

But it’s still another hit that the Vols took, and the hit hurts worse due to the fact that Conliffe picked the Gators.

Sterling was initially committed to Alabama but decommitted back in December.