‘23 MO EDGE Samuel M’Pemba (UGA commit)

No, I'm not comparing Burley and M'Pemba's respective recruitment in an attempt to say Burley affects M'Pemba. Burley was just the example I gave to answer the question of a kid who visited for 2-3 days and we didn't climb his list. And I only mentioned him, specifically, because it just happened last weekend.

I think M'Pemba is his own kid, will make his own decision, and Burley will have no effect on it. Landing two of his teammates will only help.
I agree that one is not relevant to the other at all. Isn't this an UV for M'Pemba?
 
Summary of article anyone?
It honestly didn’t give much away. Said he wanted to check us out cause Francis and Tate like it. Talks about OV’s doesn’t really mention us in getting one. I did see on Instagram he said he plans on being back. Not sure how legitimate that is, but I’ll be interested to see what he’s saying when his visit is officially over.
 
We helped ourselves, just didn’t overcome clemsons lead. If they struggle this season we could see this heat back up.
I didn't think ole Dabo let his commits take OV's to other schools. That's a mistake, IMO. Telling recruits that if they commit to his school, on their very first OV, then they have to shut it down and no longer take another OV, ANYWHERE ?!? I would want my student-athletes to see what's out there and see first hand that my team has the best Scheme/facilities/Tradition/Playing time.... etc than any other school in the nation! Stupid, IMO.
 
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Tennessee’s former staff gave Samuel M'Pemba his first SEC scholarship offer almost two years ago, but the Vols have rarely been mentioned as a contender for him since then. That finally changed when he announced less than three weeks ago that he was planning to make his first visit to Tennessee this week.

The five-star Class of 2023 athlete from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., made the trip to Knoxville as planned and got an in-depth look at the Vols, arriving on campus Wednesday and spending at least part of the past five days visiting Tennessee. He said Sunday that the Vols “probably” will get another chance to host him in the coming months, and this week’s visit “definitely put them higher on my list.”

“It’s been good,” said M’Pemba, who’s ranked the No. 26 overall prospect and No. 2 athlete in the 2023 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. “I like the way everybody’s real genuine and real cool. I liked it a lot, for sure.”

The 6-foot-3.5, 247-pound M’Pemba said his communication with Tennessee “just started picking back up, honestly,” adding that the Vols reached back out to him “probably a few weeks ago.” He said he has heard plenty from them since then, led by defensive analyst Levorn Harbin, and they convinced him to make the trip to Knoxville.

It didn’t hurt that a couple of his IMG Academy teammates, five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate and five-star offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, are strongly considering Tennessee.

“They’ve been talking to me a lot lately,” M’Pemba said of the Vols. “I know some guys who are interested in here, so just the love here (convinced me to visit), for sure.”

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s staff, including Harbin and defensive line coach Rodney Garner, showed M’Pemba plenty of attention this week while he was on campus, and he said he enjoyed getting to spend time with some of the Vols’ current players — including freshman quarterback Tayven Jackson and freshman wide receiver Chas Nimrod — along with other recruits who have been in Knoxville this week.

For the most part, he said Tennessee turned out to be “what I expected.”

“There’s a lot of love, for sure,” M’Pemba said. “I mean, that’s one of the main things — to be able to talk to the staff. … Everybody’s real cool, so that was good to see.

“I spent time with the coaches. I spent a lot of time with everybody, honestly — some players.”

He recently has made it clear that he wants to be an edge rusher in college, and he said Tennessee’s coaches told him that they envision him “playing the edge” for the Vols under defensive coordinator Tim Banks. M’Pemba said they specifically plan to play him at the Leo position, a hybrid defensive end/linebacker spot.

Tennessee’s staff told him it sees him “just coming in (and) making an instant impact,” he said, and the Vols talked with him about “how I can fit in the system, the guys that they put in the league and the coaching staff, how much experience they have.”

Now that he has been to Tennessee, he said he’s intrigued by the Vols because of “just the excitement around the program — in and around the program.”

“They’re making a lot of growth,” M’Pemba added, “so I’ll say for sure that’s what interests me.”

It’s enough to make him want to travel to Knoxville again, although he has received offers from more than 35 schools and he’s still considering a number of other major programs.

“I’ll probably come visit again,” said M’Pemba, a St. Louis native who transferred to IMG Academy last year. “It definitely put them higher on my list, just getting to talk to them and see how they are, so it’s been really good, for real. I’m going to come back.”

As for Tate and Mauigoa, M’Pemba said they “didn’t really say that much” about their past visits to Tennessee before he traveled to Knoxville earlier this week. He said the possibility of teaming up with Tate or Mauigoa — or even perhaps both of them — again in college isn’t likely to have a major effect on his interest in Tennessee or any other school.

“I mean, I don’t really think that’ll impact me,” M’Pemba said.

M’Pemba said he’s scheduled to travel to Oregon the weekend of June 24 on his first official visit. He said he’s “going to take the rest” of his official visits during the upcoming season, and he expects Georgia and Miami to get two of them.

His other two official visits remain up for grabs, he said, and he’s not planning to announce his college decision until sometime “during the season.”
-Callahan
 

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