Amidst a very successful period for Tennessee football, the Volunteers aren’t done going after 2021 recruits. Jeremy Pruitt is getting some help as well.
Bryce Thompson and Harrison Bailey have decided to get in on the recruiting action for Tennessee football. As arguably the best player currently on UT and the highest-ranked commitment in the Vols’ 2021 recruiting class, it makes sense.
Once a four-star athlete in the 2018 recruiting class from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, S.C., Thompson would naturally target players from South Carolina. The top cornerback on Rocky Top did just that Monday.
That night, 2021 defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins of Gaffney, S.C. revealed on Twitter that Tennessee football was in his top six. Ahead of his revelation, however, Thompson sent him a tweet encouraging him to head to Rocky Top.
@TyrionI27 we need more SC players up in Knox! Join that wave brudda !
— Zip (@thommybry) May 11, 2020
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What was perhaps good news for the Vols, Ingram-Dawkins retweeted it. A three-star on Rivals out of Gaffney High School, Ingram-Dawkins initially said he would make his commitment Sunday, but he said on Twitter Tuesday that he decided to give it a little more thought. The South Carolina Gamecocks are a major favorite to land him right now.
Could he be changing his mind? To go even further into speculation, did Thompson have a surprise effect on him? We probably won’t know the answer to that question, even if he commits to Rocky Top. However, he would be a great steal for Jeremy Pruitt, who has made a habit of going into rival states and plucking out talent.
Meanwhile, 2020 five-star quarterback commitment Harrison Bailey is trying to help Pruitt and the Vols keep up their strong Georgia ties. The pro-style quarterback out of Marietta High School in Marietta, Ga. tweeted at five-star 2021 Georgia offensive lineman Amarius Mims and four-star Georgia linebacker Smael Mondon Tuesday.
Mims comes out of Bleckley County High School in Cochran, Ga. and is set to make his decision in October. Mondon comes out of Paulding County High School in Dallas, Ga. and announced Monday on Twitter he could be making his commitment sometime in June. The Bulldogs are major favorites to land both, but Bailey’s tweet can’t hurt.
Given the fact that eight of the 11 prospects Pruitt secured in that red-hot two-week span were from states of rival schools pursuing them and that five of them had unanimous ratings of at least four stars, including two former Florida Gators commitments, UT is looking pretty good right now. They could make headway with all of these players.
Thompson and Bailey only give Tennessee football credibility on that front given how recognizable both are right now, so if anybody could target players from South Carolina and Georgia, it’s those two guys respectively. It’ll take some time, though, to know if they had an impact.