The 6-foot-3, 269-pound West said he “came close” to visiting Tennessee on Saturday, but he “had made a commitment to my cousin because he had a game. He plays at West Georgia, so I wanted to watch him play.”
Despite not visiting the Vols this weekend, he said he has “discussed” a possible official visit to Tennessee the weekend of Dec. 10.
“We talked about an official visit,” said West, who’s ranked the No. 89 overall prospect and No. 14 defensive lineman in the 2022 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. “I will take one there. We basically just talked about it. We discussed it (being) on the 10th. We’re going to see if it’s going to go through.”
West said first-year Tennessee coach
Josh Heupel’s staff, led by defensive line coach
Rodney Garner, has been telling him about “their defense,” along with “why they need me and the role I could play.” He said he also has talked with Heupel and Vols defensive coordinator
Tim Banks.
“(They said) I can fit in really well in Tennessee’s defense,” West said, adding that he “probably can play, like, multiple spots” on the defensive line.
He said he’s interested in visiting the Vols because he’s “trying to see what they have.” He admitted that he likes what he already has seen from them on the field this season, adding that he watched their home game Nov. 13 against Georgia.
“How they’re playing ball this year,” West said, “that’s all that I was really intrigued with. … They get stops. They make stops.”
West said he remembers visiting Tennessee “when I was younger,” during former coach Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure. The trip to Knoxville in April 2019, near the end of his freshman year of high school, allowed West to attend the Vols’ spring-ending Orange and White Game.
More than two years later, he said he still remembers his time at Tennessee being “crazy fun.”
“It was different. It was, like, the people, the atmosphere,” West said. “(I liked) the players, how they’re so locked in being at Tennessee.”
