Weekly Recruiting Recap (Apr. 12th-18th)

Chris Smith April 19, 2021 @ 02:17 PM

This was a banner week of recruiting for the state of Tennessee as we saw four top prospects from the 2022 class make commitments and several other classmates receive new offers. It was an active week and we recap it all here! Lead Story The biggest winner of last week's action had to be the Southeastern Conference. Considered the top college football conference in the country, the SEC added four new players last week from Tennessee that all have a shot to become big time players on the next level, depending on further development. Leading the way has to be Summit (TN) brothers Destin Wade Destin Wade 6'3" | 205 lbs | QB Summit | 2022 State TN and Keaten Wade Keaten Wade 6'4" | 215 lbs | LB Summit | 2022 State TN as the two Middle Tennessee standout prospects put an end to their recruitments by pledging last week to Kentucky. This was a huge win for the WIldcats and their future football program. Riverdale (TN) 3-star linebacker Elijah Herring Elijah Herring 6'2" | 225 lbs | LB Riverdale | 2022 State TN became the 1st commitment ever for 1st year Vols head coach Josh Heupel last week when he chose Tennessee over several other high caliber, power five programs. Herring is a talented guy that has the SEC size and the smarts to compete for a significant role in year one with the Vols. Lastly, the Mississippi State Bulldogs added a talented defensive back last week in Freedom Prep (TN) rising senior Tyler Woodard Tyler Woodard 6'2" | 180 lbs | DB Freedom Prep | 2022 State TN . A versatile and athletic guy, Woodard projects to safety in the college game but gives the Bulldogs a variety of skills that can be utilized all across the secondary. It was a strong week for both the state of Tennessee and the SEC adding four talented young men that sport high upside and the abilities to excel in one of the best football conferences in America. Offer King of the Week ‘22 (Ath) Reid Williford Reid Williford 6'2" | 195 lbs | ATH CPA | 2022 State TN - CPA: Offered by Army & Navy ‘23 (DB) Syncere Safeeullah Syncere Safeeullah 6'2" | 175 lbs | DB Hillsborough | 2023 FL - Hillsboro: Offered by Kentucky & Ole Miss Two middle Tennessee products hold this honor this week and both are not done adding offers. Williford is a multi talented guy that could play several positions on the next level while Safeeullah is new to the 2023 class after reclassifying recently from the 2022 crop. That move for Safeeullah to the ‘23 class has paid off by adding SEC offers and other Power Five programs showing interest. Williford is an under the radar talent that is starting to break through. Watch out for this guy going forward as he has the grades, size and work ethic to be considered for Division 1 offers. Underclassmen Notes This easy choice for the section could be Safeeullah but instead, we are going to look at McCallie (TN) DE/OLB Carson Gentle Carson Gentle 6'3" | 225 lbs | DL McCallie | 2024 State TN as this guy is already positioning himself as one of top in-state prospects for the 2024 class. Coming from a football family, Gentle is a young but talented edge performer that already sports good size along with a great work ethic that translates well to the college game. His stock continues to rise as last week he added his latest Power Five offer from Kentucky and he is not done. Expect many others to begin looking further into this Chattanooga area defender over the next coming months, especially as he hits the college camp scene this summer. Etc ….. Several in-state prospects last week set up official visits with top contenders. Those include …. - Chrst. Brothers (TN) OL Patrick Kutas Patrick Kutas 6'5" | 285 lbs | OL Christian Brothers | 2022 State TN : Official visit to Illinois (June 4th-6th) - Boyd Buchanan (TN) TE Karson Gay Karson Gay 6'6" | 225 lbs | TE Boyd-Buchanan | 2022 State TN : Official visit to Virginia (June 11th-13th) * Cavaliers Commit * - Baylor (TN) LB Trey McDonald Trey McDonald 6'4" | 210 lbs | LB Baylor School | 2022 State TN : Official visit to Virginia (June 11th-13th) * Cavaliers Commit * - Chrst. Brothers (TN) RB Dallan Hayden Dallan Hayden 5'11" | 190 lbs | RB Christian Brothers | 2022 State TN : Official visit to Notre Dame (June 11th-13th) Gay and McDonald have their minds set on the Wahoos with no intentions of flipping and their upcoming official visit will only solidify their commitments with the ACC program. Kutas is a marked man by several P5 programs and could not be done adding offers. The Purple Wave lineman has also set an official visit with Oregon and could be looking to nail down more dates with a few other schools in the near future. One of the top overall in-state prospects, Hayden has been focused on Notre Dame, Illinois, Oregon and Tennessee for some time now and his visit with the Fighting Irish in a few months could go a long way towards landing his commitment. Look for Hayden to officially visit all four of these schools before making a final decision.