it was really nice, said gilbert, whos ranked by 247sports as the nations no. 11 overall prospect and no. 1 athlete in the 2020 class. i didnt really know their coaches like that, and getting to meet them and everything, they were pretty cool. The place itself is really nice. I really liked the environment overall. It just felt good there. certain schools just have, like, a certain feel and you like the place overall.
the 6-foot-6, 248-pound gilbert joined teammate harrison bailey, a four-star quarterback and fellow top-100 prospect in the 2020 class, in making the trip to tennessee. i never visited before, so i was just going to check it out, said gilbert, who already has received offers from more than 20 schools. i heard that harrison was going up there, so i just tagged along with him.
i just liked the coaches themselves. (i liked) the conversations, the way the practice went, the way that they were running their offense everything, gilbert said. i was with the tight ends (saturday). I was talking to the tight ends coach basically the whole time. they have a pro-style offense, so theyre probably going to keep a tight end in there at all times, so i like that a lot. I like how they use their tight ends in their offense. And i like the coach hes pretty cool, coach niedermeyer.
i like tight end more, but im open to playing both, he said. "whichever one, i guess, i feel that i can further my career there, thats the one ill choose. gilbert said he liked what he heard from tennessees coaches about how they might use him in their offense. being pro-style, they want to move me all around the field, he said. they said that i can put my hand in the ground and then split out as a receiver, and not have to come out to switch the formations up or anything like that.
pruitt also talked with gilbert during the visit. he was saying how they were basically in the rebuilding stage right now, with all the coaches being gone and them just coming in, gilbert said, recalling his conversation with pruitt. and he was saying, by the time we get there, theyll probably be straight. And if i did commit, id be one of the key factors in changing the program around. the vols impressed gilbert enough that he said he definitely will visit them again, probably for a game this season. ill go back with my family, he said.
