Wu's very own recruiting thread.

Position-specific skills are sometimes taught. Other times, they must be recruited.

Levonta Taylor’s aggressiveness and raw speed paired with his supreme confidence have him rated by Scout as the Old Dominion State’s best defensive back in the Class of 2016.

“What I bring at cornerback is physicality to the game and being very humble and very fast and most importantly, my ball skills and instincts,” Taylor told InsideTennessee.

Tennessee*knows what supreme talent at cornerback looks like as the Volunteers have produced NFL-bound defenders like Terry Fair, Dwayne Goodrich and*DeRon Jenkins. Now, Taylor is drawing the focus of the coaching staff, especially after the Ocean Lakes, Va., product camped in Knoxville earlier this week.

“They have great facilities, and they showed me around,” Taylor said of Tennessee. “They showed me some of their plans for next year. They’re going to NIKE and that’s the brand I like. I’m pretty amped up to see how they’re going to do that. And, I have a good relationship with my coaches.”

The No. 4-rated cornerback prospect in the nation said that Tennessee’s facilities compare favorably to others he saw previously, including*Clemson, N.C. State,Virginia*and*Virginia Tech.

Orange & White coaches that spent time with the Scout four-star prospect were Virginia-area recruiter Zach Azzanni, defensive backs coach Willie Martinez and head coach Butch Jones.

“Coach Martinez said he would love for me to come down here and come in as a true freshman and play for him and be an impact player for their defense because he loves physical guys like I am,” Taylor said. “He said I remind him of one of the players he’s coached named*Tim Jennings, who plays for the Chicago Bears.

“Coach Jones, talking to him, I have a great alumni from my school that went to Tennessee in*Justin Hunter. We could build a pipeline from there.”

The 5-foot-10, 174-pounder clocked a hand-timed 40-yard dash of 4.34 seconds while at Tennessee’s camp, which is a personal best.

As a sophomore, Taylor totaled 48 tackles, 10 pass breakups and seven interceptions. He patterns his game after Arizona Cardinals cornerback*Tyrann Mathieu*even though “I’m like 2-3 inches taller than him though.”

Virginia’s best rising junior listed a number of items he seeks from a university.

“Having a good bond with the coaches and players and feeling good around my surroundings and most importantly, a good school for me so after football I’ll be straight. Another ‘most important’ is playing time.”

Taylor is teammates at Ocean Lakes with several DI-bound players but says it is not imperative that they attend the same university.

On Saturday, the four-plans to check outNotre Dame.
 
Talk of Kamara. Talk of cam ordway. Talk of Nigel warrior.

More wishful talk of van Jefferson, Jerome Baker, DJ Jones.
 
Scotty's Flat Top said:
Bring them to me dbake
Click to expand...

coach-butch-jones-chest-bump-o.gif
 
Citing "academics and a great chance to start,"Austin Smith*made his declaration to play forTennessee*on Saturday.

The Scout three-star prospect and No. 35-rated outside linebacker in the 2015 signing class is the Volunteers' 15th pledge of the group.

"Sometimes most plans don't work but this is one of those deals that worked out and I picked the right college hopefully and Tennessee is the way to go, Rocky Top!" said Smith, who measures in at 6 feet 3, 220 pounds.

The Buford (Ga.) High School 'backer arrived on Rocky Top on Thursday to get a head start on the "Orange Carpet" event and won't leave until Sunday.

"I've been hanging out with the players a lot," said Smith, who had to reschedule a visit earlier this month to take the ACT. "They're some crazy dudes. I've also been touring the facilities and all of that stuff."

Smith's mother has favored the Big Orange for much of the process and appears quite pleased her son is heading to Knoxville.

"She broke into tears," Austin Smith said. "I was like, 'Mom don't cry right now. It's kind of embarrassing, I'm not going to lie to you.' She was very happy. She said it's the right decision. She likes Tennessee a lot. I'm just happy, I'm real happy."

Running backs coach Robert Gillespie initiated the recruiting process on Tennessee's end with the three-star.

"(Gillespie) is everything you want in a person," Smith said. "Great guy. Doesn't lie. He told me, 'We need you, we want you. You're one of the best guys we're after right now and have a great chance at starting. I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be hard.' I said, 'Coach, I know. It's not supposed to be easy. It's the SEC now.' I just love Tennessee. Very excited."

Defensive tackle*Quay Picou*is a teammate of Smith at Buford and quickly became commitment No. 16 on Saturday as well. Smith is looking forward to seeing Picou with him in Knoxville.

"It will be real fun —*fun and funny at the same time. It's be great," Smith said.

Picou and Smith join Knoxville-based athlete Jocquez Bruce, three-star quarterback Quinten Dormady and four-star running back Alvin Kamara as Tennessee commitments to come down this June.
 
More to come IMO.

Also... Both the Buford boys need to start leaning on that tight end.
 
Running back*Alvin Kamara*was one of the heavily recruited prospects out of high school in*Georgia. He had his pick of any program he wanted to attend, and ultimately chose*Alabamaover numerous other programs, mostly SEC schools. After a year with the Crimson Tide, Kamara elected to transfer to a junior college, and wound up at Hutchinson C.C. in Kansas. From there, he will graduate in December and enroll early with the Volunteers, after committing to*Tennessee*today.



"I want to get back to where I know I can play at. I want to get the intensity back up and get my competitive edge going again. I'm excited to compete and I'm ready to perform and show everyone what I can do."



Kamara was lauded coming out of high school for his burst, elusiveness, and ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. Little has changed after watching him put on a show in a scrimmage during the Spring.

From observing a Hutchinson practice in April, Kamara was easily their top weapon on offense. He made plays out of the backfield that make your jaw drop. He has great vision from the backfield, is patient, and picks his spots well. He's great at diagnosing the defense and busts through holes and openings with ease.

His burst allows him to blow past defenders and his overall speed does the rest of the work. He's a threat to score at anytime and the Volunteers are adding a difference maker to their offense.

One thing that caught my eye on that day was his ability to be a threat in the passing game. Instead of staying home and blocking for his quarterback, he was used as another receiver. His hands were on full display and he made the most of his opportunities. He constantly got open in the flats and even in the middle of defense. A few of the passes that came his way, he was able to turn into very long gains.



Kamara gives Tennessee a game-breaking threat. As alluded to earlier, he's that rare prospect that can reach the end zone at any given time. He's not the biggest running back in the world, but is powerful enough and elusive enough, to elude defenders for a big yardage pickup.

Safely put, Tennesee is adding one of, if not the best, offensive skill player at the junior college level.
 
Past two years we've gotten basically the top RB target possibility on our board....
 
Vercingetorix said:
I know nothing about Kamara. Why'd he quit the red team?
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He was the 4th RB in his class, and had an injury in camp so was set back. Due to the setback, he redshirted and realized they had Tyren Jones, Tenpenny, Derrick Henry, and a slew of others on the roster. Felt he was led dishonesty about playing time at Bama and transferred
 
wU-Tang Vol said:
He was the 4th RB in his class, and had an injury in camp so was set back. Due to the setback, he redshirted and realized they had Tyren Jones, Tenpenny, Derrick Henry, and a slew of others on the roster. Felt he was led dishonesty about playing time at Bama and transferred
Click to expand...

Also had a couple run-ins with Saban and was suspended for "behavioral issues" at least once, and possibly a couple times.
 
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