It always seemed like a bit of a longshot that the Tennessee football team would be able to make a push for former 5-star wideout Zachariah Branch, but fans still had some hope he'd head to Knoxville for an official visit. Unfortunately, said visit won't be happening.
While Tennessee was reportedly going 'all in' to get Branch on campus, he has made up his mind. Branch will be playing in the SEC after all, just not for the Vols, as he has shut down his recruitment and committed to Georgia. His brother Zion will also be Athens-bound:
BREAKING: USC Transfers Zachariah and Zion Branch have Committed to Georgia, @on3sports has learned
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 5, 2025
Zachariah was ranked as a Five-Star Plus+ Recruit in the ‘23 Class (No. 1 WR) & is a Top 3 Player in the Portal
Zion was a 4-Star in the ‘22 Classhttps://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/TcwN00rbN3
Tennessee WR target Zachariah Branch has committed to Georgia
The good news for head man Josh Heupel is that Mike Matthews never entered the transfer portal and he'll be ready to make a splash in 2025. However, the hope was that Branch would be catching balls from Nico Iamaleava come next fall, but he's going to be making plays for UGA instead.
There are still other options at wide receiver in the portal for the Vols' coaches to look at, including Amari Jefferson and Malik Benson. Benson has UT in his final three, while Jefferson, an Alabama transfer, was once a Tennessee baseball commit and he's been predicted to land with the Vols this time around.
This offseason, Heupel saw five wideouts enter the portal. There's going to be plenty of new faces for the wide receivers room, but more help is surely needed. Jefferson to Tennessee would be solid, while also landing Benson would make things even sweeter.
Not landing Branch is a bit of a bummer, but Heupel surely has backup plans in mind. We can only hope Branch doesn't show out in the future whenever Georgia and Tennessee face off. That's only going to make things worse, no doubt about that.