Tennessee football recruiting: 4-star 2019 RB Eric Gray commits to Vols
Tennessee football recruiting got another huge pickup Thursday as four-star in-state running back Eric Gray committed to the Volunteers.
The key player to watch in the Early Signing Period for Tennessee football did not disappoint. Jeremy Pruitt scored big on the recruiting trail when he received a commitment from West Tennessee prospect Eric Gray.
A four-star running back out of Lausanne in Memphis, Tenn., Gray announced his commitment to the Vols on Thursday. At 5’10” and 185 pounds, the all-purpose back is ranked the No. 4 player overall at his position and the No. 8 player overall in the state of Tennessee.
Although this was part of the Early Signing Period, Gray’s commitment was verbal as of Thursday afternoon. However, according to Ryan Callahan of GoVols247, he plans to enroll early, which will get him ready for spring ball.
Gray was a three-time recipient of the Mr. Football award in the state of Tennessee, the only three-peat winner in the state’s history, according to Michael Murphy of the Tennessean. He joins Ty Chandler and Jeremy Banks as highly rated running backs from the state over the last three years.
According to MaxPreps, he averaged nearly 10.5 yards a carry this season and over 200 yards a game on the ground with 241 carries for 2,499 yards and an amazing 40 touchdowns in 12 outings. He also had four receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown, so the guy has been an insane stat machine for Lausanne.
He was even better his junior year, carrying the ball 323 times for 3,151 yards and 45 touchdowns, averaging 242.4 rushing yards a game. With three straight years of over 2,200 yards rushing, Gray has 134 total touchdowns for his career and 8,187 rushing yards. These are video game numbers, even at the high school level. Here is a look at his highlight reel.
As you can see, the guy’s breakaway speed is incredible, and he is very shifty and able to break tackles. However, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room. Playing at the private school level in Memphis is a bit questionable, and the defenses all looked horrible in that highlight reel. So Gray will have something to prove.
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Nonetheless, Jeremy Pruitt has been more careful with his in-state recruiting than Butch Jones was, and he still wanted Gray. So it looks like he saw enough to value the guy, and that bodes well for Tennessee football in the long-term. If he’s as good as advertised, it’s hard to see him not getting immediate action when he starts playing next year.