War Room: Will Tennessee stay hot on the recruiting trail? Camp notes, more
We begin this edition of the War Room as we always do. The War Room is a collective effort of Tennessee notes and news gathered throughout the week by the Volquest staff. And now, it’s on with the news.
We are off and running for the 2024 season with two days of practice in the books. Today is an off-day then it’s on to shells for the weekend and moving closer to full pads and full contact.
It’s clear that those in the building like a lot about this team. They are deeper than they have been and they look the part. What that turns into this fall remains to be seen, but they pass the early eye test.
You have som real transformations with guys like Joshua Josephs and Chaz Nimrod. It feels, based on the look test that no one on has changed their look more than Josephs.
Offensively, freshman Jesse Perry has gotten significantly bigger. Perry arrived at around 275 pounds and is now right at 30 pounds heavier than he was in January. Perry’s athleticism has been on display from spring practice throughout summer work. He’s working at tackle, but could, at some point get a look at center.
While some returning guys have gone through transformations there’s the newcomers and some of them look like they are ready physically getting off the bus. Guys like Jordan Ross and Jermais Heard don’t look like typical freshman.
There is a lot of excitement to see what Heard can do when he gets in pads in one-on-one drills. He’s not going to be a factor this fall as he learns the position, but the former prep defensive lineman and tight end has shown he can move for a guy his size.
In terms of facility work, the rain has caused some slow downs this week.
In Neyland Stadium, the new Yee-Haw Brewery signage is up in the north end zone party deck which Yee-Haw is sponsoring. They will also have a sponsorship with a bar in left field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. There’s also new signage going up on the east side of the stadium that will say home of the Vols. The sign will be lit and it pays tribute to the past. In the 70’s and 80’s there was a home of the Vols sign on the old press box.
We also still believe that an on field corporate logo is a possibility as well.
When the weather improves there’s concrete work to be done outside the gate four area in the south end zone area as well as paving what will be a new Tee Martin Drive that will now be between the gate 10 ramp and the G-10 garage. But they are moving closer to a stopping point there. Weather isn’t causing any delays in the renovations to the skyboxes or the restrooms and concessions areas in the second level of the north end of the stadium.
Some of you have asked about a new sound system. A new sound system is a part of this two year renovations and there have been new speaks installed. There will be continued improvements to the system throughout the year till it is complete, but there will be a difference in the sound for game one. Next year’s phase of work will not entail as much as this year where a lot of heavy lifting as been done. With 29 days left till kickoff the overtime push is on to get finished and cleaned up. There will be some 7 day work weeks this month to close things out.
The press box is almost down at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The rest of the work being done at this point is utility work and drainage work in particular on Pat Summitt Drive. The extra work on the utilities will likely drive the cost of that project up to over 100 million dollars.
Work continues on the Anderson Training Center expansion. As for the Food City Center, the Ray Mears room will get a make over and for the 2025-2026 season, a new scoreboard will be installed.
Recruiting
Let’s be real. This is that stretch with not much going on in the recruiting world. The Vols are waiting on a handful of prospects decisions but that’s about it.
We begin with David Sanders as the hay is in the barn for the Sanders family. They have seen everything there is to see ahead of their decision. Tennessee got the most visits and the last visit. The Vols deserve a ton of credit because the moment he camped here last June they put the pedal down to go get Sanders.
Now they are just 15 days away from his decision and you have to feel like the Vols carry a ton of momentum in this one. Ohio State and Nebraska are going to continue to work the Sanders family and won’t go away in this one but Tennessee remains the most consistent team in this race for our liking.
Offensive lineman Juan Gaston will announce his decision on Friday and it’s anyone’s guess as to where he picks. We have said the fact he doesn’t talk would create a lot of chatter from all sides. I think most schools in his final group have felt optimism at some point the last few weeks. Most believe it will be Georgia but with Gaston the only thing that is for sure is nothing is for sure.
Onis Konanbanny narrowed things down to two teams earlier this week with Florida State being the competition for Tennessee.
The South Carolina standout is just scratching the surface of his football potential with his youth coming in France and England. Willie Martinez made a big impression on him and the Vols continue to be on a good spot here.
The big news this weekend is going to come from the top ranked QB in the 2026 class in Faizon Brandon.
Much like Sanders, Tennessee has had Brandon to campus more than any other school and his relationships with Heupel and Halzle are top notch. He will commit at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon and it’s hard to not like where Tennessee is in this one.
Coming out of the weekend, Carson Sneed will announce his decision and the Vols have always been out in front for Sneed. He grew up at Tennessee fan and his quote to us last year about surviving the previous coaching staff as a fan told us all we needed to know. Add in the fact that his brother is on the roster and Tennessee has a chance to keep that momentum rolling on Monday.
Hoops
Everyone’s attention is understandably on the football side of things right now, but Rick Barnes’ team is in the final weeks of a productive offseason.
As we joke often, no coach ever says ‘we had a bad summer,’ but there’s a real feeling around the Tennessee hoops team that this offseason was beneficial.
It needed to productive summer with four new transfers who are all going to play big minutes being added to the roster.
This team clearly has some potential and it’s got some interesting pieces. Summer is a time to look at different combinations and there’s obviously been some tinkering.
They’re going to be able to go with a ‘jumbo’ line-up with some combination of Felix Okpara, Igor Milicic, JP Estrella and Cade Phillips at the 4/5 spots.
Darlinstone Dubar looks like he’s going to be able to play some four given Barnes the option to spread the floor with essentially four guards when the mood strikes him.
Maybe my biggest takeaway after seeing everyone in action is that there’s a lot of competition pretty much everywhere.
Phillips and Estrella are probably behind Okpara and Milicic but it’s not a huge gap and everyone brings some different skill sets to the table.
On the perimeter you’ve got a gaggle of veterans. Zakai Zeigler is probably going to play as many minutes as he wants every night. But then you’ve got Jahmai Mashack—as experienced as anyone in college basketball—shiny new toy Chaz Lanier, the guy who is suddenly showing up on draft boards in Cam Carr, Dubar when he’s not at the four, Jordan Gainey who was a productive member of an Elite Eight team and freshman Bishop Boswell.
It’s not clear yet if Boswell is going to carve himself out a niche on this year’s team, but he’s turned heads with his improvement on the court and in the weight room this offseason.
The competition for minutes on this team is going to be real. It will be interesting to see how many guys actually end up earning a spot in the rotation, but we’re a couple of months from that shaking out.
On the recruiting front we’ll be in a holding pattern for most of August but one of the Vols’ priority targets will be an early official visitor. Point guard Darius Adams, from powerhouse La Lumiere School in Indiana will be in town on Sept. 13.
Adams is the No. 18 overall prospect in the 2025 class in the on3 Industry Composite rankings.
The biggest target on the Vols’ board, five-star Caleb Wilson, the No. 4 ranked prospect in the class, has yet to set up an official visit to Tennessee.
He has indicated to on3’s Joe Tipton that he plans on taking a trip to Knoxville this fall, but to this point has not set a date. Wilson’s lone official visit to this point for the fall is scheduled for Kentucky on Sept. 13.
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