Tennessee isn’t waiting until football season to welcome visitors on campus.
At least four highly rated prospects popped in to visit the Vols this weekend: DeAnthony Arnett, a 6-foot, 170-pound receiver from Saginaw (Mich.) High School, Justin Coleman, a 5-11, 175-pound defensive back from Brunswick (Ga.) High, Zach Debell, a 6-7, 265 offensive lineman from Tarpon Springs (Fla.) High and D.J. Humphries, a 6-6, 265-pound rising junior offensive lineman from Mallard Creek High in Charlotte, N.C.
Humphries participated in UT’s linemen camp last weekend and stopped in to see the Vols on Friday.
“It was definitely good to see them again,” Humphries said of UT’s coaches. “I like them a lot. I like the offensive line coach (Harry Hiestand), the way he pays attention to detail and how precise he is with hand placement and foot placement.”
Humphries and his family spent a week of vacation touring East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. Humphries said he’s already drawn to the area.
“I like it a lot,” he said. “I love the people, the way they feel about UT football and the way they treat football players around here.”
Humphries is already one of the top prospects in the Southeast, if not the nation. He has over 20 scholarship offers and is in no hurry to narrow his list.
UT could provide Humphries with two of his prerequisites for his chosen school: distance from home and playing in the SEC.
“I don’t want to be too far away from home, but I don’t want to be too close,” he said. “(And the SEC is) really the division I’m looking to play in.”
As for the other three weekend visitors, they were scheduled to depart Knoxville on Sunday.
Arnett is widely considered one of the top receiver prospects in the nation, with offers from Southern California, Alabama and Oklahoma among many others.
Coleman isn’t quite as highly sought after but still holds over 10 scholarship offers. Some are from smaller schools, but UT, Louisville, Kentucky, Georgia Tech and West Virginia have also extended official invites.
Debell has over 20 scholarship offers and is considered one of the top prospects in the Southeast.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 35
volfan53 writes:
Come be a Vol young man. You will never regret it.
thevoice writes:
Bring 'em in Dooley. We're going to need some great players to right this ship.
dlobh writes:
Slive doesn't seem to be doing enough to at least explore the possibilities of expansion, in my opinion. Obviously it would be hard to know what's going on behind closed doors and if Texas and Oklahoma would want to come and face the most demanding football schedule in the country. If we're going to expand, however, it would seems that Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas (for basketball) would be high on the SEC's wish list. If A & M is already interested, adding those four would be a huge boost for the SEC.
mtowntim writes:
Dooley has us on the right track. One step at a time and we will get there. A good showing on the field this year will turn some heads then before you know it our troops will be replenished and back in the hunt. GO VOLS!!!
TNParker writes:
Actually Slive has been very active in expansion. Everything has been behind closed doors. Slive doesn't want to add teams just because everyone else is.
VolinCalif writes:
I for one, in the past , have not been a Fan of Slive. But he is an excellent business executive,so just maybe his intellect just passed me by. I am impressed with his action so far on this expansion issues. TV money, without Fan support and attendance will not remain high. You need a fever to feed and maintain interest or the pot will boil dry. If a football game on TV looks like a High School Game in attendance to the TV audience That Game will soon be a no watch activity and the TV market will want to drop it to reduce cost. With that said I withdraw any negative comment I may have said about Slive in the past.
VolunteerLifer writes:
I'm glad to know that Dooley is working to recruit all the time. Because that's what it takes.
VolinCalif writes:
YEP. But good coaching helps.
Down_The_Field writes:
i'd prefer the two big ugly-s.
d.j., why wait young man? you'll look good in an orange jersey and black high tops. you and zach could rule this league as OTs.
VolinCalif writes:
As an old Defence back I hated the ugly-es. It was tough enough to match up against the speed of an opponent but when they came through a open door, Ooh
VolGrad writes:
The SEC does not need to "jump the gun" and start adding teams. It won't do that. We should, however, be proactive in feeling out schools that a)could bring in a significant amount of money by increasing the viewing market and b)would help to maintain the dominant reputation of the league. I trust Mr. Slive is doing this.
Jesse Palmer, former Gator and current ESPN analyst, stated that a PAC-16 with Texas, Oklahoma, etc would thrust itself by default in the No 1 position as strongest conference. It was pretty cool how Kirk Herbstreit shot back that, of all people... he thought Jesse should be supportive of the SEC - he reminded him that it is the SEC who has won the past several NCs and then he summed it up with: "you could put all the other teams into one MegaConference and the current SEC would still be the strongest conference."
Southland writes:
Jesse Palmer is an idiot. I do wish we were getting updates in the KS on the expansions. If you want to sell papers you have to stay on top of things
tnsportsman writes:
D.J. The Big Orange awaits your commitment! Glad you and your family have been doing the smart thing and touring East Tennessee!
Hope you and all the other recruits on campus see how great the University of Tennessee is.
GO VOLS, WE ARE UT!
thevoice writes:
Not sure why we need to expand. If it's about increasing the revenue per school, why not renegotiate that right now? If TX or OU joins and increases the revenue PER SCHOOL of SEC existing members, I think if I were TX/OU I would demand a bigger pie piece, which would keep the $ per existing teams about the same.
Does a big conference = prestige or keeping up with the Jones'? Who needs a big conference to water down the on-the-field prestige when we keep spitting out national champs now?
I just don't see it. Any thoughts?
hueypilot writes:
Jesse Palmer is the male equivalent Don Henley's "bubble headed blonde."
trgclychip writes:
Reggie Jones (track) and Terry McDaniels(track and FB) were from Saginaw. Come on Down!!!!
Down_The_Field writes:
understood!
i used to be a big ugly.
hey, but we're both vols. right? we can agree to hate bama. right?
mrvol2u writes:
Wait, I thought we couldn't recruit anymore because CDD was a 3rd rate coach. Amazing how things seem to work out. The sky is not falling after all, except maybe in Southern California.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
I only hope this southern humidity and heat doesn't wear on that Michigan kid too much....
VolinCalif writes:
If you're still there. Yes I do understand. Yes we are Vols to the end. Have a great season. GBO
DaddyVol writes:
Thanks for checking in Casey. It's always good to hear from you.
tsaecesnitsebhtruof writes:
Where did you play "Defence back"? At UT?
tsaecesnitsebhtruof writes:
Let's don't talk about ex-SEC quarterbacks with big heads.
BrassMonkey writes:
If A&M comes to the SEC then Fulmer will be their coach within the next 3 years.
gatorstomper writes:
After the ax came down on USC. I've came to respect the Dooley hire. Smart, hard working, runs a clean program. The makeings of a good coach. Just needs the players. Bring them in Dooley. Oh by the way expand don't expand I don't care. The VOLS and the SEC anit scared of nothing! GO BIG ORANGE!!!
Volunatic writes:
They could do worse than hire him. He could recruit a decent team without ever having to travel out of state.
PHAT_VOL writes:
Big list and two verbals. Check the other schools list.
GerryOP writes:
In defiance of you guys who claim that Dooley is only looking at 2nd tier recruits, looks like he's lined up some thoroughbreds! The sky is not falling! It's ONLY 233 days, almost 8 months, until LOI NSD! Keep the faith!
82 -- Fear The Dooley Dude...
PHAT_VOL writes:
Your SO right Rich.
FearThisElephant writes:
Nope. aTm coming to the SEC will be tough enough without adding Fulmer. Coach Stallings is leading the way for them. Looks like if the Texas legislature agrees aTm to SEC with the Sooners and the shorthorns to the 10 to provide extra excuses for Quiffin not winning. As the keyboard turns....
GerryOP writes:
Rich, I don't care how many 0*, 1*, 2*, and 3* guys we're looking at right now as long as the LOIs for the 4* and 5* guys start rolling off the UTAD fax machine on 2/2/11. And they will be there!
It's really amusing to see guys tracking this stuff so closely this time of year. The only people that can talk about what's going on are the recruits, their families and coaches, and the press. The UT coaching staff can say nothing until after LOI NSD. So, who in the hell really knows what the caoches are thinking? It amazes me what some guys can deduce from silence!
fbmf624#277664 writes:
I love ghow you support the players we already have. Be a fan and support our team no matter what. Make the players we have feel the support for them also. I think they will show you a few things this season. Remember the players read this site also.Do you really think that comments like yours makes them want to win?
FearThisElephant writes:
Debell should like the hills of East Tn. We spend a lot of time around Tarpon Springs. Its an area that is one of Florida's best kept secrets. Lakes, backwaters, great fishing, hunting, food, bears, & deer. Other than the mountains & 30 degrees its not that much different. UT has a legitimate shot at this one. As the keyboard turns....
VolGrad writes:
Hopefully, the guys we have are guys who already have a desire to win. That desire cannot be based in how anyone feels or what anyone else says. The poster was posting his opinion, which everyone is free to do, that we will need some really good recruits to help get our program back to where it should be. Part of that is not just opinion; rather, it is based on the fact that we haven't been too good the past couple of years. Also, simply voicing that opinion doesn't necessarily deride any of the current players. Calling them out by name..., now that would be a somewhat different story.
Ralph_Crampton writes:
Wish the players on teams were as fired up as the fans...but the truth is they are not. Unless a player thinks he is a sure fire pro prospect, but they are rare...and the top pro prospects will choose to be surrounded by better than average athletes. That gives them more publicity.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.