Offensive lineman T.J. Leifheit from Hoggard High School in Wilmington, N.C., committed to North Carolina during an official visit this weekend, his mother told the News Sentinel on Sunday.
The 6-foot-7, 300-pound Leifheit had strongly considered UT before choosing North Carolina.
He visited Knoxville twice in the past month. Leifheit took an official visit to UT on Sept. 12 and returned for an unofficial visit on Sept. 26.
UT received official visits from three offensive linemen this weekend: Cullen, Green and Jawuan James from North Gwinnett High in Suwanee, Ga.
The Vols are also actively recruiting James Stone from Maplewood High in Nashville, Morgan Moses from Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., and Arie Kouandjio from DeMatha High in Hyattsville, Md.
UT has commitments from three offensive linemen for 2010: Zach Fulton from Homewood (Ill.) Flossmoor High, Jose Jose from Miami Central High School and Marques Pair from Sumter (S.C.) High.
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Comments » 65
vol94 writes:
Why? Does this kid want to stay close to home? UNC about 2 hrs or less from Wilmington.
About 10 to 12 hrs from Knoxville so I assume that is the main reason.
Was he a 3, 4,or 5 star? Thanks!
Fryinpansvols writes:
Big mistake dude you should have came to The Orange Nation and played in a real conference. Have fun playing in a weak ACC conference.
vol94 writes:
My bad. About 7-8 from Knoxville.
GahLee writes:
Well, this is surprising to say the least. Verbal commits are so iffy, it remains to be seen with T.J. but one thing is for sure, this staff will not stop recruiting him.
If we are able to get Cullen, Green, James, it won't matter, those three are very good, with the other 3 commits we have that would make a pretty good class for O-Line.
mbible1utk#324980 writes:
he was a 4 star, 20th rated OT prospect. I am hoping it's like that Thigpen RB guy we had committed before Fulmer left... we might lose this fairly high rated fish, but only to pick up better ones. If we get Jawuan James, Chaz Green, or James Stone, we're getting higher rated prospects
Voluvr writes:
volquest.com will give you all the ratings.
Voluvr writes:
Well, James Hurst went there too. NC must be doing a good job. Especially talking top football players to go to a basketball school. These guys could play in the best conference, but maybe those guys want to be a bigger fish in a small pond.
Could also be a little momma's boy staying close to home going on too. If so, he definitely couldn't handle the intensity level at UT. Could be too that level of intensity from the weight room to the field intimidates some players.
yeavols#228407 writes:
Choosing North Carolina when you are from Wilmington is probably a no brainer. He just wants to stay close to home, hit the beach, and watch basketball. Good school too. For those who didn't pick up on my implicit meaning, notice I never mentioned football.
GahLee writes:
What makes you think that Chaz is a sure thing?
Even if we don't get him, we already have 3 commits and I think that we will get Cullen for sure, and either James or Stone.
Whitaker is another option, we also have Tait, a Knoxville boy is all else fails.
I wouldn't be so sure on Green if I were you. We do have the nations best recruiting staff.
KCHS63 writes:
Just a reminder: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the nation's best schools. Duh.
DC_Vol writes:
Absolutely, UNC usually has an average football team, but you forgot UNC is always over ranked to start the season. Then they lose several games they were expected to win and end up out of the top 25 by about third or fourth game of the season.
nightxtr4in#451385 writes:
And UNC keeps getting beat by wider margins against Virginia who gets worse year after year. Go figure!
NTNSTY writes:
Where's North Carolina?
WestTennVol writes:
'This quarterback may have the MOST LONG-TERM POTENTIAL of any quarterback in the country. (Tyler)Bray is a tough competitor that sees the whole field and already has enough arm strength to make the tough throws.'-Rivals.com
The QB thing may have already 'worked out' red shirt him and put some meat on him and we may be in fine shape IMO.
vtvol#210290 writes:
Leifheit must value "the college experience" over being prepared to go to the pros.
Gator_Hater (Inactive) writes:
We may not need to redshirt Bray. He's supposedly up to 200 lbs. and he's supposed to arrive in January. Ausmus could put another 15 to 20 lbs. on him by fall. If my memory serves me correctly, Peyton was under 200 as a true freshman. I think Bray will be ready.
chad_t31 writes:
Homer. Heck, I didn't even know he wanted to play basketball.
VOL03_NC writes:
One is lost...another is gained.
It will all work to master blue print specifications 2011.
GO VOLS!!!
VOL03_NC writes:
I read in other posts that Leifheit was very very slow. He was a wall but very slow.
tennezz writes:
You will know why Tenn. signed him before long!
tennezz writes:
Chaz Green is not orange and blue until you have his signature! You thought Nuke and Teague were all orange and blue!
utvol2485 writes:
A verbal commitment means absolutely nothing until there's a signature on the dotted line come NSD.
tennezz writes:
It`s in Missouri!
VOLKING writes:
Hey, Duh Man, I know why you keep getting headaches. When you get out of bed....remember, it's feet first. Might wanna have a brain scan done. There's probably some damage there.
ArealVolFan writes:
Anyone else not realize Morgan Moses was available? That would be a huge get.
newtonrail writes:
Remember how many of you wanted Butch Davis for Coach? Maybe this kid does too. Quit deriding those who don't choose us. Recruits read this rag.
TK writes:
HELLO.....It is October!!! Who were half the kids UT signed committed to this time last year? It is a long time till signing day!!!
KiFFiNOMiCS writes:
Throw this goofy white boy in the gutter and gofind another....just kidding....good luck to this kid and playing at the best of the worse ACC team he could of picked.....good luck to him though.
NoogaVol55 writes:
I certainly don't want to say "Well, we didn't want him anyways..." But I will be honest, he was not the most impressive O-line prospect on our board. I would gladly and happily take him, but I was never overly impressed.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Congrats to the young man on his choice.
Err, make that his ma's choice. He and Marlon Brown have formed a club. She liked that pretty soft blue.
deakinbi writes:
don't forget that UNC has a much better academic offering. And B. Davis has NFL experience and UMiami. Similar Package as CLK and crew.
TLepage writes:
bad choice by this kid..... i wonder if he saw the uva vs. unc game the other weekend???? i hope he has fun playing at a mid-tier program in a pathetic conference.... Let's face it, the acc is a joke....UNC might win an acc championship while he's there..... But the future of ut's program is very bright, especially after this weekend.... Have fun playing nail-bitters against duke, wake, uva, etc... while we will be competing for championships at ut....
vestc#256986 writes:
Let's round'em up this week!
TLepage writes:
Does anyone know what our exact plans are for delvin jones? TE, WR, or DE??? I am curious about him and a few others in this recruiting class..... I could maybe see us moving jacques smith to lb..... I haven't heard anything, but smith is a physical freak and has tons of speed and we have also have a lot of de commits......
GreerVol22 writes:
If I didn't have any aspirations for playing at the NFL level, I might chose UNC too.
10volunteers98 writes:
But,Vols football will be back on top LONG before the Heels.Duh!GO,VOLS!!!
rockytopatl writes:
UNC has developed some UT-like offensive woes, but don't sell Butch Davis short. He has significantly upgraded their talent, and with Florida State on the decline, they will be a championship contender every year. All that said, they are in the ACC, which ain't exactly top-tier.
We are going to play them in 2011, which I look forward to. We should be natural rivals, being right next door and recruiting a lot of the same kids.
notoriousBIGorange writes:
I haven't seen you this confident since Nu'keese Richardson.
halloffamebowler writes:
Don't hack on these boys for picking another school aside from Tennessee.We are not the only school that offers schollies.Most all schools are good and many offer a much better education than Tennessee.We will get our fair share when all is done.Our soldiers fought and some died so that we could have freedom of choice.Let these kids exercise that right without us saying they made the wrong choice.We don't know if they did or not.Only they will know the answer to that as time goes on.
VolunteerLifer writes:
People who thought Nukeese Richardson and Marsalis Teague were anything but orange and blue last year were considered nuts.
Down_The_Field writes:
UNC IS one of the nation's best schools if you want to major in medicine, law, engineering, etc.; but, this kid will more than likely take the specialized athlete's ciriculum which will be urban studies, recreational sports management, exercise science, etc.
the name of the game in big time college sports is "eligability" not "acedemics." so, he'll major in "elegability" and minor in "beating the system."
VolunteerLifer writes:
This kid made a decision for himself and his family. We have no reason at present to believe it was not a good decision. I say good luck to him and it is a compliment to our staff that they were in the running for a good player from as far away as eastern North Carolina. If we are in the running for kids like this more and more we'll get our share.
midtnfan writes:
The fact is SDSU is the only school that made him an offer. If he was highly regarded the pac-10 schools would have been on him. After Crompton i guess anything is an improvement. Good luck with that.
roobomb writes:
Just imagine how awesome Bryce Brown would be with the addition of an invisibility cloak...
Maybe we should recruit more from Hoggardts High...
golfballs03 writes:
dang. we need OL!!!
VolFanNC writes:
He has been a UNC fan most of his life, UT was a long shot. Green may end up as a gator for the same reasons. Although playing early might be motivation enough.
I still think we end up with 6 OL this year and 1-2 may start next year. Stone, James and Cullen would be big.
Cullen, James and Fulton could have a chance of starting next year.
Volunatic writes:
Keep recruiting him. "Commitments" don't mean anything until they sign on the dotted line.
vol94 writes:
yeah, sorry about that. see my other post.
I was calcalating the time from where I live now, nasvhille. Use to live in raleigh and Hated that area! good luck the young man whatever he decides.
vol94 writes:
Sir, is your life so miserable you come to this board daily? Seriously, I very rarely post anything on this site as I enjoy others' opinions. At least have something educated to say.
First of all, the Pac 10 is already set with QBs for the most part (USC, UCLA, Wash has a freshman coming in, etc).. He may or may not attract other offers and that is fine. You should be happy then if you are a gator or bama fan.
Please think before you post something.. And if you are a 13 year old child, then let the grown ups play and GO TO BED!
DC_Vol writes:
Good Post! Seems UF wanted Meline and Cobbs as well. According to these two they felt our NFL coaches would provide them the best development over Florida for the next level. That would be the NFL. Look it up trolls!!! Oh the times are changing, we are starting to get the skill position players over Florida. I heard one WR recruit state he wanted to play in a pro style offense over the spread (gimmick offense) to improve his chances of being prepared for hte next level. He probably was concerned about catching passes and running routes instead of just blocking for a Florida QB. The truth hurts Gators LOL! Go Vols!
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