re: Tennessee Football Recruiting

quote:

---

Huntley a for sure take?

---

quote:

---

As we've said for weeks now we continue to get the feeling the Vols have a strong lead in this one, but Auburn isn't going away. We've been told a commitment is expected to come this summer and right now things are trending in the right direction for the Vols.

---

quote:

---

Just added BRODARIOUS HAMM

---

quote:

---

“It was great,” Johnson said. “It was really good.”

The 6-foot-3, 197-pound Johnson and his family arrived on Friday evening and departed Saturday night.

“We got to spend some time with Coach DeBord and Coach Jones and Coach Sheridan,” Johnson said. “It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with them and we got some time with them as well today.

“It was a great visit overall.”

As Tennessee competes with the likes of Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, N.C. State, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Penn State for Johnson’s signature, there isn’t much left for him to learn about the Vols program.

“This was actually the first time my dad got to meet Coach DeBord,” Johnson said. “I wanted my whole family to meet Coach DeBord and talk with the coaches so we can talk as a family about where we feel comfortable. We took a lot from the weekend and had a great weekend.

“I think we’re planning on coming back in the summer so I can work with Coach DeBord at a camp maybe or just come by and hang out. I have a strong relationship with them right now and I’m working on continuing to build that. I feel confident with where Tennessee is going right now.”

---

quote:

---

“I know just about everything I like about Tennessee, and it only gets better,” said Bituli, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 135 overall prospect and the No. 1 player from the state of Tennessee in the 247Sports Composite for the 2016 class.

“I like it up here. I really like it up here. They are number one right now. Tennessee is number one right now.”

The 6-foot-3.5, 235-pound Bituli said Auburn remains “number two” on his list after making a big impression on him last month during his first visit with the Tigers. But with Bituli heading into perhaps the final months of his recruitment, he said the Vols have continued to establish themselves as the team to beat.

“They’ve been up there for a whole bunch of months,” he said. “I just like the atmosphere down here, and it’s a good area, a good place to be.”

A number of other teams — including LSU, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Florida, Notre Dame and Oklahoma — have extended offers to Bituli, but he said Tennessee and Auburn currently have his attention, and he’s focused on “mainly those two right now.”

“Just the way they run their offense and defense — the scheme in general — I think it’s a good fit for me, if I were to come here,” Bituli said. “I liked it all. I really enjoyed the environment. I know just about everything about these fans, and they love their football team. I really like that.”

“The first coach I talked to was Butch, and I talked to Coach Thigpen and got to see some of the players, and they’re really good people,” Bituli said. “(Jones said) that he really wants me down here and Tennessee’s a really good place to be — just anything a really good coach would say — and it’s true.”

Bituli said he has developed a close relationship with Thigpen over the past several months.

“Oh, that’s my dog,” Bituli said. “We talk to each other almost every day on Twitter, and we don’t just talk about football. We just talk about life in general, and I’ve gotten to know him as a person — not (just) as a coach.”

While Bituli hasn’t decided when or where he might go on his next visit, he said he “probably” will travel to Auburn again before making his college decision. And he said he’s currently planning on “committing this summer,” adding that he wants “to get it out of the way so I don’t distract myself this upcoming football season.”

“I do feel confident I’ll be able to make my decision by then,” Bituli said.

---