War Room: Recruiting nuggets, baseball roster, hoops recruiting board and 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.
Everyone is settled back in after the July 4th holiday and it’s the final two week push till the start of fall camp.
The holiday break is the last real opportunity to get away for players. For example, Keenan Pili and his wife went to her home town in Alaska for a few days. Others went home to see family. And others just relaxed for a bit.
The mood/intensity is definitely shifting to football. Not that players haven’t been working all summer, but there’s definitely a change in mindset following the last “break”.
“This is kind of the cap off to any sort of extra circulars for me,” senior Bru McCoy said Sunday at his golf tournament. “After today, I won’t be nearly as active in the community because I will be pouring into making sure I’m showing up on Saturdays.”
At 242 pounds, Pili is of the same mindset as he readies himself for the season. Like McCoy, Pili and the trainers will have plenty of discussions about how much contact is enough, but Pili is pushing for as much as he can get to be ready for week one. With Pili and McCoy having as much experience as they have, everyone will be smart about their work loads. By the way Pili is a little lighter than he was a year ago.
There are plenty of guys who will have heavy work loads including running back Peyton Lewis, who RB coach Derail Sims will try to get up to speed as quickly as he can to try and create depth behind starter Dylan Sampson.
Cam Seldon continues his rehab which is “ahead of schedule”. When will he be back? That question remains an unknown. It should be no later than early September.
As I noted on Sunday, Elijah Simmons is at 343 pounds. Tennessee wants him and expects him at 338 the start of fall camp. Simmons is healthy and is leaner than he’s been (FYI, he’s still big).
While the players have been working out and having some positional meetings either as just players or with analysts, most of the assistants have been on vacation.
Now the office isn’t empty as the coaches take days and rotate in and out of the office to address any issue/need that might come up so if a position coach is in the office working he’s the guy leading meetings with players.
A fresh coat of paint has been going up in the complex ahead of fall camp and there’s actually been some work on the Anderson Training Center expansion. The south entrance of the facility is getting a new elevator as that project is just getting started.
Speaking of projects, concrete has been poured for the new restrooms and temporary concessions in the second level concourse on the north end of the stadium as that area was gutted and is being re-done as a part of this off-season’s work.
On the south end, work on the student gate continues as well as the area around the south end zone next to the G-10 garage. Inside the stadium, work on the restrooms well continues as crews have 30 days or so before they really have to move into the clean up mode to get ready for the start of the season.
At Lindsey Nelson Stadium, the prep work continues in and around the stadium. The area down the right field line continues to be prepped for the construction of those new seats as well as the utility work. East Tennessee is in desperate need of rain, but the lack of rain has allowed work to continue without stoppages.
There’s plenty to get done around campus over the next month before students return as many roads are closed at this point due to different projects. The biggest closure continues to be Phillip Fulmer Way in front of the stadium where about 30 yards of the road is gone as they work on utilities there.
Concrete steps done and concrete is ready to be poured to the student gate
They are about at a stopping point on the Founders Suites
Stadiums backs are being installed
Down right field line outside LNS
Right field line at Vol bullpen where new seats and entrance way
are going
Gutted and ready for removal
Recruiting
Travis Smith will announce his decision on Saturday night and Tennessee continues to be in a good spot with Smith really loving his visit last month and his relationship with Kelsey Pope. The Vols wanted to add a big rangy wide receiver and Smith fits that perfectly.
After Smith’s announcement, the next up to make the call will be Christian Gass on July 20th. Georgia continues to push here but the Vols appear to have the most momentum with the linebacker.
Speaking of linebacker, Jadon Perlotte is just a matter of when and not if with the Vols poised to flip the longtime UGA commitment.
On the 27th, Shaedy Hayward will make things official with his decision and the Vols have always had the most momentum with him. The official visit last month just solidified that notion.
Defensive back Onis Konanbanny will make a commitment in August and we think the 15th is the date to watch in this one. The Vols have the most momentum here with FSU still trying.
All eyes will be on David Sanders for the next month ahead of his August 17th decision. Tennessee remains in a good spot based off our latest intel this week. Nebraska is the dark horse here with the Huskers impressing him but we just don’t see him going there. Ohio State feels good but we still like where the Vols are here.
Two committed players we will keep an eye on are USC commit Daune Morris and Oregon commit Dasaahn Brame. Brame was set to commit to the Vols late last month before Oregon made a late swing. We won’t be shocked here if the Vols and Brame have more discussions or if he comes in for a game this fall.
Finally, Faizon Brandon will be in town on the 27th and he will make a commitment announcement on August 3rd. Joey Halzle and the offensive staff will look to close this one out after being the team to beat the last several months. Alabama is the team that could change that.
Baseball
Tennessee has been active in the portal this week with the Major league Baseball Draft starting on Sunday. First, let’s look at the portal.
Niagara first baseman Eric Rataczak had a banner year for an NCAA regional team in 2024. He was conference Player of the Year and has some versatility in his game to get a corner outfield look if needed.
He loved his OV here last weekend and went ahead and committed on Monday. Like Ryan Galanie last summer, he is one to watch in the draft. It’s all about leverage. He’s older (23) and has obviously dreamed of playing professional baseball. If this is his best chance, he will take it – but I’d give it less risk than Galanie last summer. Rataczak is excited to be a Vol and will be thrilled to play here if the draft doesn’t work out. Worth noting, he does not appear as a Baseball America top-500 prospect.
The Ole Miss duo of Andrew Fischer and Liam Doyle committed in back-to-back fashion Tuesday evening. They wanted to play together and they both fit needs for this Tennessee roster.
Fischer was one of the better hitters in SEC play last season while playing third base and designated hitter. His defense is not fantastic in the hot corner and he was moved to the DH slot the last few weeks of the year. Still, there’s opportunity in left and maybe even first base.
Doyle was a left-handed pitcher the Vols needed and displays a nice four-pitch mix of a fastball, cutter, slider and splitter. His velocity sits in the mid-90s and has touched as high as 96-97. He will have the chance at a weekend starter role next season.
Still remaining on the board is former Florida left-handed pitcher Cade Fisher. He can start but was dominant as a reliever in 2023. He’s considered by some to be the top-pitcher in the portal. As of now, we’d say Wake Forest is in the lead with the Vols a close second. Texas, LSU and Mississippi State are also involved.
Fisher has family in East Tennessee, so that doesn’t hurt. He was in town on Sunday night and had a good visit with the staff.
Junior College lefty Brandon Arvidson is also one Tennessee continues to pursue. He started his career at Texas A&M as a redshirt in 2023 and was one of the better JUCO pitchers in the country this past spring.
He can hit 97 mph from the left side, so he is also one to watch during the draft. He visited here last weekend and by all accounts it was a good time. He originally signed to pitch at Texas for next season but was granted a release from his NLI after the caching change in Austin. Texas A&M and LSU are involved there as well.
We believe those are the final two names on the board for this cycle. Things can always chance, of course.
With the draft coming up, it should be a great three-day span for the Vols.
Christian Moore will be a first round pick. Billy Amick could sneak into the first round or be a compensatory selection – early second round pick. Then it will be a combination of Drew Beam, Blake Burke, Dylan Dreiling and Kavares Tears likely off the boards in rounds 2 and 3. AJ Causey and Aaron Combs are expected to be top-10 round picks.
Zander Sechrist could sneak in as a draft pick in the latter rounds. He’s earned that after the way he finished the 2024 season. Cal Stark is also a name to watch towards the end. If not drafted, he’s one who could absolutely sign an undrafted free agent deal.
As far as current signees, this draft has potential to see the most players taken of the Vitello era. That’s the cost of doing business when you run a great program and recruit the very best. The Vols own the top-recruiting class for 2024, after all.
RHP Anson Seibert (No. 108 on MLB.com) is one we could see going on and playing pro ball. RHP Tegan Kuhns (No. 96), SS Ty Southisene (No. 111), Jay Abernathy (No. 122), SS Trey Snyder (No. 155), SS Manny Marin (No. 149), C Levi Clark, RHP Brayden Krenzel and RHP Tate Strickland are signees to watch.
Each high school prospect sets a singing bonus figure ahead of the draft. If that number is high, there’s a better likelihood of the prospect making it to campus. If it’s low or at slot-value, there’s more incentive for clubs to draft and meet the signing bonus request to sign the player.
As for the Tony Vitello extension, it could be any day now. Nothing is in danger and it will get done. It’s just putting the finishing touches on what should be a lucrative contract extension.
Hoops
On the recruiting front, we kind of spilled it all in this space last week.
The July evaluation window is here. It begins today and the focus of the college basketball recruiting world will be on Augusta, Ga and North Augusta, S.C. as the NIKE Peach Jam gets underway on Friday along with multiple ‘satellite’ tournaments that take place in the area around the event.
Tennessee’s entire staff will be at the Peach Jam at different points during the week as well as the other events in the area.
As far as the 2025 class goes, we feel like Tennessee is working off a pretty solid list of targets right now. Over these next few weeks is pretty much the final time, at least before the early signing period, where you might find a new guy, decide to eliminate someone on your board or maybe double down on a guy you were already recruiting, but you’ve now decided is better than you originally thought.
Numbers aren’t really a problem for Tennessee in 2025 (or anyone really in the portal era). It wouldn’t shock us to see the Vols find someone they like in July as a possible fall enrollee, i.e. Zakai Zeigler or Tobe Awaka, but right now we’re not holding our breath.
As of now these are the guys (which we listed last week) that we feel like are going to get the most attention from the staff over the coming weeks in July. And as always don’t rule out someone else popping up on the board.
Dewayne Brown (commitment)
Adams, the No. 18 overall player in the nation according to the on3 industry composite, is one of the guys on the above list that has been to campus and has a longstanding relationship with the staff.
Cenac and Lewis have both seen their stock soar based off their play in the spring and summer on the circuit. Both guys were already getting plenty of attention from high major programs, but each has raised his stature another level or two in the last couple of months.
Brown isn’t a guy that generates a lot of buzz, but people who have seen him this summer and are familiar with Tennessee’s program feel like that’s a great fit for both parties.
Brown is a big guy (6-foot-9, 235 pounds), but he’s rare in this day and age because he’s just fine with being a big guy.
As someone told us recently, Brown knows what he does well and he plays to his strengths. He’s a hard worker with a physical style that just looks like he’s a ‘Tennessee kid.’
Brown has had a nice summer, impressing with his work ethic and his willingness to consistently take on challenges.
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