Camp Season: Week 4 Notes/Recap

The final week of the open recruiting period was quite the active and busy week for the state of Tennessee as ten prospects made commitments while several others attended camps and earned offers. Here we break down all the action from a hectic week of recruiting in the Volunteer State. 2022 The biggest week of player commitments happened this past week with ten prospects taking their names off the recruiting boards and pledging to their future college homes. It was the final week of the open recruiting period and official visits, so it was almost expected to see multiple prospects choose to make their commitments and several certainly did. - Christian Brothers (RB) [player_tooltip player_id="101973" first="Dallan" last="Hayden"] - Committed to Ohio St. - Knox. West (Ath) [player_tooltip player_id="102027" first="Shannon" last="Blair"] - Committed to Michigan St. - East Robertson (S) [player_tooltip player_id="101977" first="Taylor" last="Groves"] - Committed to Ole Miss - Lipscomb Acad. (RB) [player_tooltip player_id="102012" first="Alex" last="Broome"] - Committed to Boston College <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-163681" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/06/abroome2-184x300.jpg" alt="" width="184" height="300" /> - Cane Ridge (DE) [player_tooltip player_id="101992" first="Eric" last="Gaston"] - Committed to Memphis - Milan (LB) [player_tooltip player_id="102010" first="Antwain" last="Barham"], Jr - Committed to Memphis - Oakland (DB) [player_tooltip player_id="102024" first="A.G." last="McGhee"] - Committed to Marshall - Ensworth (DB) [player_tooltip player_id="102079" first="Roland" last="McGhee"] - Committed to Toledo - Smyrna (DE) [player_tooltip player_id="102019" first="Jeremiah" last="Bailey"] - Committed to Eastern Ky - MUS (OL) [player_tooltip player_id="150898" first="Kyler" last="Herring"] - Committed to Davidson What you see above are several high quality football players and some big names that made their commitments. Hayden and Blair are leaving the Southern footprint to play their college ball in the Big Ten. Groves, who was one committed to Michigan, is now headed to Ole Miss. An underrated talent, Broome will be carrying the rock in the ACC for the Eagles. Memphis added two upside, potential driven prospects in Gaston and Barham, Jr. The relationship between McGhee and Marshall was too strong for him to pass up. Toledo was the 1st school to offer (Roland) McGhee and he never forgot who came after him first. The Colonels of Eastern Ky added a huge commitment in Bailey, who could be a star for them. Herring is a rising prospect who jumped on the offer from Davidson. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-163684" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/06/rmcghee2-240x300.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="300" /> ---------- Over the month of June, Maryville (S) [player_tooltip player_id="102018" first="D.J." last="Burks"] has taken several visits all across the country from App State to Duke to Washington State and he may not be done. This East Tennessee product has several high quality options to choose from currently but he might be holding out for a few bigger schools to come calling with an offer. Now Burks could very well be close to making a decision but his talents warrant bigger offers as he could become an impact safety on the Power Five level. He is one prospect that could hold off making a decision right now as stronger options may float his way over time. ----------- A pair of Southeast Tennessee prospects officially jumped on the recruiting board last week with their 1st official college offers. Boyd Buchanan (DL) [player_tooltip player_id="102080" first="Colbe" last="Haddox"] added a pair from Eastern Ky and Tennessee Tech, while Cleveland (OL) [player_tooltip player_id="102151" first="Nick" last="Nicodemus"] picked up his 1st offer from Tennessee Tech as well. Both Haddox (6'4 280) and Nicodemus (6'6 295) are two big, space eating guys that have the talent and upside to see an in-flux of offers over the coming months, especially if they put together strong senior tapes. 2023 Alcoa (OL) [player_tooltip player_id="102358" first="Lance" last="Williams"] has been a wanted and busy man over the month of June as he has visited more than a handful of schools and seemed to build his recruiting stock even further. A mauling interior lineman with versatility, Williams will be playing his college ball on the Power Five level but with what school? <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-163685" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/06/lwilliams-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> So far this summer, Williams has taken visits to Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He could hit the road once more in July but Williams is probably done with visits for now and looking to focus on his upcoming season. This East Tennessee lineman does not have a leader, so he is wide open in his recruitment but Williams could have his eyes on one of those schools mentioned above. ------------- Last week was a big week of recruiting for Knox. Catholic (OT/DL) [player_tooltip player_id="102223" first="Trevor" last="Duncan"] as the Fighting Irish two way lineman earned Power Five offers from Kentucky and Virginia Tech and he is far from done. Duncan is a very intriguing talent that could develop into either an offensive tackle or defensive lineman on the next level. Most schools are looking at Duncan for offense but this East Tennessee product has the ability to excel on either side of the ball. This coming Fall football season will be huge for Duncan and his development leading into the college game. Schools are watching and interested! Duncan is already rated pretty high within the #PRZTN 2023 Top 100 and I could see his profile rise up the ranks as the next several months come along. -------------- The first official college offer arrived last week to [player_tooltip player_id="153183" first="Marceo" last="Collins, Jr"] as the Red Wolves from Arkansas St. extended one and now put the Chattanooga area lineman on the map to hear from others. This is an active and athletic defensive lineman that I foresee adding plenty of big time college offers over time and become one of the top prospects from the East Tennessee region. -------------- Watch out for the rise and recruitment of White Station (QB) [player_tooltip player_id="102304" first="Braylen" last="Ragland"]. After seeing this West Tennessee signal caller in person recently, Ragland is a legit talent with a strong right arm and sound mechanics. He took an unofficial visit to Tennessee last weekend and I expect him to take several more visits to high profile programs this Fall. Look out for Ragland to obtain plenty of strong offers over the coming months. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-163686" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/06/bragland-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> 2024 Siegel (DB) [player_tooltip player_id="149390" first="Jaylen" last="Thompson"] continues to rack up the offers as last week he achieved offers from both Kentucky and Tennessee to go along with his previous offers from Georgia and Ole Miss. This Mid-Tennessee product is budding with potential stardom and will become a national name before his high school career is over. Speaking of soon to be national names, Lipscomb Acad. (LB) [player_tooltip player_id="150276" first="Edwin" last="Spillman"] is one of those guys and is in the mix to be the top overall in-state prospect for the 2024 class. Spillman added two big offers last week from Ohio St. and Boston College to help solidify his eventual status as a national name and someone that will see tons of interest, offers come his way very soon. This is an elite talent that many will know about sooner than later. Three other top level names from the 2024 class added big offers last week and they are … Whitehaven (RB) Joe Williams - Offered by Tennessee Lipscomb Acad. (DB) [player_tooltip player_id="149389" first="Kaleb" last="Beasley"] - Offered by Michigan Oak Ridge (WR) [player_tooltip player_id="149157" first="Brandon" last="Heyward"] - Offered by Boston College All three of these prospects are 2024 Top 10 overall players with Beasley already being a national recruit. Williams and Heyward will soon follow.