The four-star Class of 2023 linebacker/athlete from Charlotte (N.C.) Christian School picked up an offer from Tennessee on Monday morning and added an offer from Penn State just hours later. He said he was pleasantly surprised that the Vols decided to join the race for him, and he’s now interested in traveling to Knoxville at some point to take a closer look at the program.
“I went on a virtual visit, I want to say maybe two weeks ago,” said Tucker, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 176 overall prospect and No. 11 outside linebacker in the 2023 class. “They’ve been talking to my coach, I think. I had no clue that they were going to offer me (Monday) morning, but it happened.
“If the opportunity comes up, then I’m sure I’ll go up there and check it out.”
The 6-foot-3.5, 190-pound Tucker said he has “heard a lot of good things about the school.” He’s more familiar with Tennessee after his virtual tour of its campus last month, and he happens to know one of the Vols’ newcomers: freshman quarterback
Sully McDermott, a walk-on from Marvin Ridge High School in Waxhaw, N.C.
“One of my friends goes up there —
Sully McDermott. He played down at Marvin (Ridge), so I used to go out and catch for him and stuff,” Tucker said. “I’m going to check in with him, for sure.”
Based on what he saw during his virtual visit with the Vols last month, Tucker said they have a “nice campus.” First-year Tennessee coach
Josh Heupel’s staff also made a good impression on him during the portion of the Vols’ practice he was able to watch.
“It looked like they put a lot into their football program and everything — a lot just into anything. It looks like they have a lot of good academic buildings and all that,” Tucker said.
“It was a practice, so I logged in and watched maybe the last half of the practice, got to see what they were doing there, see what they were working on. They had a lot of energy. I liked how the coaches were going about things. … I think I was (watching) the defensive side of the ball most of the time. They were flying around and stuff, having fun, so that stuck out to me.”
