Pop quiz. Name a football program from the South that drapes itself in orange that is in the midst of assembling one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
Tennessee? Not even close. Try Clemson.
Yes, the Tigers are as hot as any school in the country after landing two UT prospects this week: Kenneth Page and Brandon Thompson.
Clemson has 21 commitments and is pushing toward a top-10 ranking nationally. Better still, the Tigers have six prospects (including highly touted defensive end DaQuan Bowers) that have enrolled for the spring semester, meaning they’ll have the advantage of participating in spring practice.
Picking up Page and Thompson was huge for the Tigers and devastating for the Vols. Thompson, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound defensive tackle from Thomasville (Ga.) High School, ruled out the Vols this week. Page, a 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman from A.C. Flora High in Columbia, S.C., had long been considering the Vols before his Clemson announcement Friday.
The two also played positions of need for UT’s 2008 class: offensive line and defensive tackle.
Meyer’s Man: Florida Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow’s name has surfaced in Florida’s internal review of coach Urban Meyer’s recruitment of junior college wide receiver Carl Moore, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
At question is whether or not Meyer violated NCAA Bylaw 13 when he handed a cell phone to Tebow to talk to Moore. The rule states that college athletes cannot speak directly to recruits by telephone at the behest of their coaches.
If Tebow placed the call, or Moore phoned Tebow, or Moore phoned Meyer and asked to speak with Tebow, the call likely would be legal, the newspaper reported.
The recruitment of Moore’s girlfriend, Florida freshman gymnast Maranda Smith, is also being reviewed to determine if Meyer tried to entice Smith to enroll at Florida as a way of securing Moore.
Coaches are limited as to when they can call prospects and cannot actively recruit athletes for other sports.
Fast Start: Quarterback Matt Barkley, a junior at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High, committed to Southern Cal. Barkley is considered by most recruiting services as the No. 1 prospect in the nation for the class of 2009
The 6-3, 220-pound junior passed for 3,560 yards and 35 touchdowns and was selected the Gatorade national player of the year.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Memorable moments in Pat Summitt's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 23
dburgVol writes:
I wish Thompson and Page had committed to UT, but I guess it just wasnt meant to be. Rob Spence mustve shown them Fulmer's letters offering him the OC job. Its just a matter of time before Meyer goes down with his recruiting escapades. Too bad that Tebow is involved because even though he plays for the evil gators, he has great character. Sad that with all that talent in Florida that UM has to recruit prospects' girlfriends to play. Maybe we shouldve recruited Willie Mobley's girlfriend to play hockey.
TommyJack writes:
No problem losing these 2. Everything's fine. We're searching the whole scenario. Stay the course.
ggriggs939#223122 writes:
AS noted before, it appears that other schools can offer more attractive situations than the VOLS are permitted. VOLS, for example are required to go to class and make progress toward graduation. Then they are also regularly subjected to drug tests and other supervision besides being birddogged by the local media and police who either look for or maybe even create problems for them.
dfreeman writes:
We need to find out who these guys girlfriends are!! Can Fulmer get Peyton to call our targets on his personal cell phone?? How many gymnastic scholarships do we have available.... this could be easy folks!!! Urban legend is that our competition is doing it!! LOL
dfreeman writes:
Maybe, just maybe Fulmer could ok some targets to accept tickets and attend a game with some NFL star!! Maybe Fulmer can call an agent and have him start up a business and offer some of our targets (Reggie Bush) $300,000 and a house for the families!!
GreerVol22 writes:
Don't anyone blame Fulmer if other coaches are smart enought to lie to parents, get girlfriends a scholarship, and make promises they never intend to keep. I mean really...what recruit in his right mind wouldn't follow a "sure thing"??
TommyJack writes:
sjt: i apologize for my role in helping us lose 6'2", 285lb DT, Brandon Thompson. But hey, another will turn up. No worries. Stay the course.
cjraney writes:
How many articles will there be on these 2 Clemson recruits? I thought the first one pretty much covered it.
DroopyDrawers writes:
John Adams wrote this article or had it written.
gohawks1 writes:
Dang it!
Have we had a single commitment since the dead period ended? What's going on with our recruiting? I don't get it, Big Dan.
paulvol writes:
How is it that notre dame is ranked #2 in recruiting after having lost 9 or 10 games this year and Tennessee is ranked 43 after having won 10 games and an SEC East champianship. This just doesn't make sense to me.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
TJ- 9:22 -1-25-08 _ one can only assume you reached that conclusion after carefully studying the charts.
paulvol 11:33p.m. - Get out the 8x10 glossy of Phil and it may become clear. Fire is out.
THE_VOL writes:
The almighty PHAT ONE has already started the downward spiral on the field and now he's getting his a$$ kicked off it too! Meyer has been killing him, he's never been a match for Saban, Spurrier? Well we all know how that's played out over the years. And now, even Bowden is pillaging him! The company line has always been what a great recruiter ole FOOLMER is - well the times they are a changin' aren't they???!!! All you kool-aid drinkers better come to his rescue cause this recruiting season is a shambles and will officially mark the point at which this program tanks.
james#216392 writes:
When you change coaches around late in the game, it hurts recuiting. This may not be our best showing but we will rebound next year with the new guys in place. Talk about rebounding, I would love to see the PearlVols rebound..... and shoot free throws.
jobrando#216494 writes:
Recruiting will rebound if the new coaches do good otherwise just another year with Phil and Coach Phil will be Coach as long as he likes. He may even give back 2 million of his salary next year to get his yearly extension
waterskier3#226480 writes:
touchdown how dare you talk about reality on this board.. this board is for kool-aid drinking fantasy land fans.... nothing is wrong with ut... heck we've won 3 eastern div titles... by the way BP won't even acknowledge the div title in BB.. because he knows its BS... the sec championship is the goal...
so have some more kool-aid sit back and watch the 4 loss seasons continue... yes more 2* recruits please..
really who cares lets watch a true team tonight one that plays with heart, passion and doesn't quit.......
please get some recruits or it is going to get ugly around here.. i can't take losing like we did this year......
jack_2222#231746 writes:
Hey whiners, I thought the program officially tanked when UT got hammered by AL. Guess that was a fake tank and this recruiting class is the real tank job. Go ahead and say it-- the sky is falling, the sky is falling again.
DadwasaVol writes:
The sky is not falling.
TommyJack writes:
TDTN: No man, I wuz framed. Just beginning to feel guilty cause so many on here blame the skeptics for everything.BTW, if these guys were Bama fans, they would be the same ones still praying for Bear's resurrection.. Will be the same if ole Phil ever retires or heads for the Big Bakery in the sky. Stay the course.
budrhon writes:
The importance of Coach Troop Taylor and Cutcliffe might be one of the major factors in UT's dismal recruiting effort. It appears it's falling on Fulmer to bring in the major recruits. I still feel that time will tell. I'm not suprise at Clemson's recruiting as Bowden has a great staff that's getting after some kids. What will be interesting is if UT's defense doesn't show improvement this fall who will fall on the sword this time as Fulmer won't. Question for everyone - why isn't UT not playing Clemson during the regular season? Man, that would be a great series with both schools regionally located.
cc1 writes:
meyer has a secondary violation u.t has had one each of the last two years,remember the hotel room last year, and trooper. the recruits don't come here because of the fans,and boring style of football.
TommyJack writes:
cc1: Fans? Boring style of play? Please explain.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
TJ- 5:37 p.m. He may be referring to Foster heading for the West stands. Or a 4 yd out on 3rd and 9. Just a guess, I dont know.
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