Arguably Tennessee’s best defensive player in fall camp won’t be on the field Thursday night when the Vols take the field in the 2021 season opener. Sources tell Volquest that Byron Young is not eligible due to a two game stint at a prep school that folded two games into a 2017 season.
By NCAA rule, his eligibility began by playing those two games, but because the prep school folded, Young won't lose that entire season.
Young wasn’t on anyone’s recruiting radar coming out of high school in Hemingway, S.C. That’s why he latched on to a prep school called Gulf Coast Sports Academy in Mobile, Alabama Volquest learned earlier this week. Sources also tell Volquest that Young’s situation has nothing to do with the current and ongoing NCAA investigation.
In the meantime, Tennessee has appealed the situation in an effort to get Young back as soon as possible. Josh Heupel is expected to address the situation after the game.