While nothing but good recruiting news had been coming in for the Tennessee football team, a negative update just arrived. For a while, the Vols have been showing high interest in 4-star running back Jonaz Walton, as he's an electric playmaker.
However, Walton shut his recruitment down this week and announced that he has committed to Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame. With the way recruiting works these days, though, the assumption was that Walton would still consider taking his schedule official visits, including one to Knoxville. That's not going to be the case:
4-star RB Jonaz Walton has canceled his official visit to Tennessee
This is no question a bit of a bummer for the Vols and head man Josh Heupel. Walton was all set to take his official to Knoxville on June 20 and it was a trip that a lot of people on campus were excited about. However, Walton is now 100 percent locked in with the Irish.
It's understandable if Heupel and his staff are a bit bummed out by this news. Walton is ranked four stars, the No. 9 RB in the country and No. 125 player for the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite. He picked Notre Dame over Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Stanford and many others.
Missing out on Walton stings, but keep in mind that there are still other speedsters that Heupel has high on his board at running back. The list of course includes 5-star talent Savion Hiter, ranked the No. 1 RB in the country. Hiter is high on the Vols and he's visiting on June 20.
Tennessee is facing serious competition to land him, as Hiter is also going to be taking officials to Michigan, Georgia and Ohio State. It'd be a dream if Hiter pledged to the Vols, especially with 5-star running back Faizon Brandon on his way to campus next season. Could you imagine Hiter and Brandon together? We'll see what happens there, but everyone can go ahead and cross Walton off the list of potential 2026 RBs who will sign with UT.