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Tennessee football recruiting live blog, tracker: Vols 2018 National Signing Day Primer

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 20: A general view of Neyland Stadium before the start of the Florida Gators versus Tennessee Volunteers on September 20, 2008 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 20: A general view of Neyland Stadium before the start of the Florida Gators versus Tennessee Volunteers on September 20, 2008 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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National Signing Day is here for Tennessee football. This is our live blog and tracker for the Volunteers recruiting news of the day.

Related Story: Vols Top 10 National Signing Day prospects

Tennessee football entered the day with a Top 25 recruiting class on Rivals. After a month of nothing but recruiting by Jeremy Pruitt since he finished the national championship game, he’ll be hoping to have as much of a splash as he had in his early signing period.

Remember, the early signing period saw the Vols jump into the Top 30 after being outside of the Top 60. This is after they fell to outside of the Top 60 from the Top 5 thanks to a wave of decommitments that came from the bad season, Butch Jones’s firing, John Currie’s mishandling of the coaching situation, and Pruitt rewriting the board.

Now, the Vols have a chance to make a huge splash with a lot of big name targets on National Signing Day. In this post, we’ll keep a live blog of all the moving pieces, look at the players still on the board, and keep track of where everybody goes.

Oh, we also have a list of people already signed with the Vols. So now, let’s start with the live blog.

Live Blog

5:34 p.m.-Five-star cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart signs with USC Trojans. Jeremy Pruitt had been heavily pursuing Taylor-Stuart for a while, so this is a huge blow for him. With this signing, Tennessee football’s class is likely complete.

4:57 p.m.-Three-star defensive lineman Jermayne Lole commits to the Arizona State Sun Devils. With the commitments of Gooden and Garland, Lole is not a big loss for Tennessee football.

3:56 p.m.-Four-star defensive tackle Emmit Gooden commits to Vols. Gooden is a junior college prospect who is from Brownsville, Tenn. and was once committed to Tennessee out of high school before heading to JuCo.

3:51 p.m-Three-star defensive lineman Kurott Garland commits to Tennessee Vols. Garland was a late offer by Jeremy Pruitt and the staff, but he could be a potential diamond in the rough.

3:48 p.m.-Four-star running back Jashaun Corbin commits to Texas A&M Aggies. Tennessee football had been pursuing Corbin hard during the final weeks, but their collection of running backs made his commitment unlikely.

3:40 p.m.-Five-star cornerback Oalijah Griffin commits to the USC Trojans over Tennessee football. Griffin was once a UCLA Bruins commit but decommitted after Jeremy Pruitt took the job at Tennessee.

3 p.m.-Three-star cornerback Taiyon Palmer commits to the N.C. State Wolfpack over Tennessee football. Palmer was once a commit to the Duke Blue Devils.

2:30 p.m.- Four-star wide receiver Jacob Copeland commits to the Florida Gators over the Tennessee Vols and the Alabama Crimson Tide and against his mom’s wishes.

2:17 p.m.-Three-star tight End Glenn Beal announced his commitment to the Texas A&M Aggies over Tennessee football. The Vols had been pursuing him hard, but he’s not a big loss considering the commits already on their roster.

1:25 p.m.-Tennessee football signs four-star linebacker JJ Peterson. Peterson had been committed to the Vols for a month but had not yet signed, and the Alabama Crimson Tide were making a run at him.

1:15 p.m.– Three-star wide receiver Jordan Young flipped his commitment from the Tennessee Vols to the Florida State Seminoles. Young was initially an overlooked prospect, but he immediately jumped to a three-star after the Vols pursued him and his highlight tape came out.

12:55 p.m.-Three-star defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia, another target for Tennessee football up front, announced his commitment to the UCLA Bruins.

11:30 a.m.- Four-star linebacker Quay Walker commits to Georgia Bulldogs over Tennessee Vols after decommitting from the Alabama Crimson Tide. Tennessee football appeared to be in the lead for him for a while until the final weekend before Signing Day.

10:50 a.m.- Two-star safety Joseph Norwood out of Chattanooga commits to and signs with the Vols half an hour after receiving an offer from them. Despite only being listed as a two-star, Norwood could be underrated, as some sites have him as high as a four-star.

10:37 a.m.- Two-star wide receiver Cedric Tillman commits to the Vols out of Las Vegas. Tennessee offered Tillman one day earlier, and he immediately signed Wednesday morning.

10:18 a.m.- Three-star safety Trevon Flowers commits to to Vols. The 6’0″ 185-pound prospect out of Tucker High School in Tucker, Ga. chose Tennessee football over the Clemson Tigers.

10:15 a.m.- Five-star cornerback Tyson Campbell committed to the Georgia Bulldogs. Like Eddie Smith, this move was expected. However, Jeremy Pruitt and his staff were trying to make a late push to flip him.

10:05 a.m.- Three-star defensive end John Mincey commits to the Vols. Mincey, out of Clinch County High School in Homerville, Ga., stands at 6’4″ 258 pounds. He picked the Vols over the South Carolina Gamecocks.

9:30 a.m.- Three star cornerback Eddie Smith commits to the Alabama Crimson Tide over the Tennessee Vols. This was expected, but Smith was a late bloomer that Jeremy Pruitt and co. were hoping they’d be able to steal.

8:30 a.m.- Graduate transfer quarterback Alex Thomson has chosen the Marshall Thundering Herd over the Tennessee Vols or Baylor Bears. Thomson is a 6’5″ 225-pound prospect out of Wagner who is a pro-style quarterback.

7:15 a.m.- In a rough start to the day for Tennessee football, four-star athlete Anthony Grant has flipped from the Vols to the Florida State Seminoles. Grant committed to the Vols under Butch Jones but became a bit of a question once Jeremy Pruitt became head coach.

In the Clubhouse (Rivals star count next to name)

Early Enrollees 

  • Jordan Allen (JuCo)-4*-DE-San Francisco (City College of San Francisco)-6’5″ 230 lbs
  • Paxton Brooks-3*-K-West Columbia, S.C. (Airport H.S.)-6’5″ 170 lbs
  • Jerome Carvin-4*-OT-Cordova, Tenn. (Cordova H.S.)-6’4″ 305 lbs
  • Greg Emerson-4*-DE-Jackson, Tenn. (Northside H.S.)-6’4″ 280 lbs
  • Kingston Harris-3*-DT-Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)-6’4″ 260 lbs
  • Ollie Lane-3*-OL-Corryton, Tenn. (Gibbs H.S.)-6’5″ 270 lbs
  • Alontae Taylor-4*-ATH-Manchester, Tenn. (Coffee County Central H.S.)-6’1″ 180 lbs
  • Jacob Warren-3*-TE-Knoxville, Tenn. (Farragut H.S.)-6’6″ 210 lbs

Signed Letter of Intent

  • Dominick Anderson (JuCo)-4*-TE-Yuma, Ariz. (Arizona Western C.C.)-6’6″ 255 lbs
  • Tanner Antonutti-3*-OL-Nashville, Tenn. (Ensworth H.S.)-6’5″ 260 lbs
  • Jeremy Banks-4*-RB-Cordova, Tenn. (Cordova H.S.)-6’2″ 210 lbs
  • Trevon Flowers-3*-S-Tucker H.S. (Tucker, Ga.)-6’0″ 185 lbs
  • Kurott Garland-3*-DE-Conyers, Ga. (Heritage H.S.)-6’3″ 240 lbs
  • Emmit Gooden (JuCo)-4*-DE-Independence, Kan. (Independence C.C.)-6’4″ 305 lbs
  • Jamir Johnson (JuCo)-3*-OL-Yuma, Ariz. (Arizona Western C.C.)-6’6″ 290 lbs
  • Brent Lawless-4*-DT-Nashville, Tenn. (Nashville Christian School)-6’3″ 300 lbs
  • John Mincey-3*-DE-Homerville, Ga. (Clinch County H.S.)-6’4″ 258 lbs
  • JJ Peterson-4*-LB-Moultrie, Ga. (Colquitt County H.S.)-6’2″ 206 lbs
  • JT Shrout-3*-QB-Newhall, Calif. (Hart H.S.)-6’3″ 190 lbs
  • Cedric Tillman-2*-WR-Las Vegas, Nev. (Bishop Gorman H.S.)-6’2″ 206 lbs

Committed but Not Yet Signed

  • Joseph Norwood-2*-ATH-Chattanooga, Tenn. (Brainerd H.S.)-6’2′ 170 lbs
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