Bars will be a very tough pull for us in this upcoming class. We've started out fairly well actually with him, as he was very impressed on his visit last year with our gameday atmosphere. His family is top notch, but they are a primarily Big Ten based family. His two older brothers play at Penn State and Michigan currently, so I would assume both of those schools will have a big advantage on the field.
However, with CBJ's intensity and diligence on the recruiting trail it's too early to tell or predict anything. If we can get him up to camp this summer and see the new facilities, meet the coaches, and experience the new environment that would be a solid start to earning his signature come this time next year.
Also, this kid and his brothers all went to MBA in Nashville. MBA has a proud and successful football history just like ours, so that may be something he can associate with as well.
I graduated the same high school Jalen Hurd goes too and he isn't even looking at UT. Just FYI.
Not saying that couldn't change though....
There seems to be some confusion on the board regarding Hurd, so let me see if I can clear up some misconceptions. Yes, I am close to the family and this is not speculation.
The family (the whole family - mom, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great.... you get the picture) are very much Vol fans. There is nowhere that they would rather have him go to college than Tennessee. Yet in the beginning, Dooley (being the super douche that he is) acted very uninterested in Hurd. We all thought that TN would be all over him since he's a hometown kid, but they really weren't at the time. So that pretty much turned them away from UT. Why are you going to be interested in a school that doesn't act interested in you, right? While during this, you had other coaches (like Meyer) that has been recruiting him like crazy.
No worries though, CBJ has come in like the calvary, and Hurd is now VERY excited about the thought of being a VOL again! He is going up to catch the UK game on the 16th, but he is spending one on one time with the staff on the 17th. IF CBJ can turn this program around and make great strides, I believe that he will be a VOL! He graduates early and will enroll early, so that could pull a lot of other recruits too.
As for his current size, he is 6'3 and has bulked up to 222 lbs. He swears that he will be 230 lean when the season starts, and I believe it. It's nuts. The kid carries food around school with him all day and doesn't stop eating.
If we can score him, he will be a program changer!
There seems to be some confusion on the board regarding Hurd, so let me see if I can clear up some misconceptions. Yes, I am close to the family and this is not speculation.
The family (the whole family - mom, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great.... you get the picture) are very much Vol fans. There is nowhere that they would rather have him go to college than Tennessee. Yet in the beginning, Dooley (being the super douche that he is) acted very uninterested in Hurd. We all thought that TN would be all over him since he's a hometown kid, but they really weren't at the time. So that pretty much turned them away from UT. Why are you going to be interested in a school that doesn't act interested in you, right? While during this, you had other coaches (like Meyer) that has been recruiting him like crazy.
No worries though, CBJ has come in like the calvary, and Hurd is now VERY excited about the thought of being a VOL again! He is going up to catch the UK game on the 16th, but he is spending one on one time with the staff on the 17th. IF CBJ can turn this program around and make great strides, I believe that he will be a VOL! He graduates early and will enroll early, so that could pull a lot of other recruits too.
As for his current size, he is 6'3 and has bulked up to 222 lbs. He swears that he will be 230 lean when the season starts, and I believe it. It's nuts. The kid carries food around school with him all day and doesn't stop eating.
If we can score him, he will be a program changer!
Butch Jones talks about locking down Tennessee in recruiting well Rivals 2014 has 6 Tennessee kids in the Rivals 250 listed in no particular order.
Vic Wharton DB (Nashville-Independence) - Commit-UT
Josh Malone WR (Gallatin)
Jalen Hurd RB (Herdersonviile)
Todd Kelly Jr DB (Knox-Webb)
Petera Wilson LB (Memphis-White Station)
Alex Bars OL (Nashville-Montgomery Bell Academy)
If we could get all 6 of these kids this would be a great place to start, some positions of need!!!! GBO!!!!!
We've also offered TKjr from Knox Webb
Petera Wilson MEM W'station
Rico McGraw Nash Ensworth
Emmanuel Smith Murfreesboro (don't know which HS) ... Anyone know?
Plus a few other possibilities
Akeem Cooperwood -Knox Fulton (he is 6'7" 327 last time I saw stats!)
AJ Long QB at Friendship Christian
Michael O'Connor-Chatt Baylor
Desmond Pittman-Ooltewah
Andrew Shofner -from Nash but goes to boarding school in Va.
Hunter Moore- Chatt East Hamilton
Gonna be a good year in TN HSFB!!
I graduated the same high school Jalen Hurd goes too and he isn't even looking at UT. Just FYI.
Not saying that couldn't change though....
There seems to be some confusion on the board regarding Hurd, so let me see if I can clear up some misconceptions. Yes, I am close to the family and this is not speculation.
The family (the whole family - mom, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great.... you get the picture) are very much Vol fans. There is nowhere that they would rather have him go to college than Tennessee. Yet in the beginning, Dooley (being the super douche that he is) acted very uninterested in Hurd. We all thought that TN would be all over him since he's a hometown kid, but they really weren't at the time. So that pretty much turned them away from UT. Why are you going to be interested in a school that doesn't act interested in you, right? While during this, you had other coaches (like Meyer) that has been recruiting him like crazy.
No worries though, CBJ has come in like the calvary, and Hurd is now VERY excited about the thought of being a VOL again! He is going up to catch the UK game on the 16th, but he is spending one on one time with the staff on the 17th. IF CBJ can turn this program around and make great strides, I believe that he will be a VOL! He graduates early and will enroll early, so that could pull a lot of other recruits too.
As for his current size, he is 6'3 and has bulked up to 222 lbs. He swears that he will be 230 lean when the season starts, and I believe it. It's nuts. The kid carries food around school with him all day and doesn't stop eating.
If we can score him, he will be a program changer!
Yeah where'd you get Ensworth? Was at CPA before transferring to Independence this year. Seen him play Bball and wondering about his character a little bit. Maybe not, talented kid.