Tennessee football: Vols make cut for four-star 2021 Nevada TE

Jeremy Pruitt is trying to take Tennessee football recruiting out west. The Volunteers made the cut for tight end Moliki Matavao out of Henderson, Nev.

With the NFL Draft in the books, Tennessee football is back to finding elite talent on the recruiting trail. The Vols made lots of headway with a couple of physical prospects early on Sunday afternoon, and while they were mostly on defense, one was on offense.

Tight end Moliki Matavao, a four-star on Rivals out of Nevada, included the Vols in his top six. Matavao hails from Liberty High School in Henderson, Nev. and is the No. 81 ranked player nationally, the No. 5 ranked player at his position and the top ranked player in the state.

In addition to Tennessee football, Matavao’s top six includes the Washington Huskies, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Oregon Ducks, the UCLA Bruins and the Penn State Nittany Lions. He announced his list on Twitter.

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At 6’6″ 240 pouds, Matavao would be an amazing pickup for the Vols at tight end, where they just lost Dominick Wood-Anderson and will lose Austin Pope after this upcoming year. They still have guys like Sean Brown, Jackson Lowe, Jacob Warren, Princeton Fant and now Jordan Allen there. However, Matavao’s addition could give Jeremy Pruitt lots of elite options there.

As you can see with his list, Matavao is looking all over the country for a landing spot, from the Northwest to the Southeast to the bridge between the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. He really could end up in any region.

Washington is the unanimous favorite to land him on the Rivals Future cast and the 247Sports Crystal Ball. Still, the Crystal Ball only had one prediction, and Georgia is the favorite by a plurality on the Rivals Fan Future Cast.

Brian Niedermeyer is the guy recruiting Matavao, and his track record means that’s good news for Tennessee football. However, the Vols clearly have an uphill climb to try to land him. Making this cut was great news for them, though.