Making the Case: Four-star RB Eric Gray
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Most of the Early Signing Period action took place on Wednesday, but the period for prospects to sign is still open until Friday, and there will still be a few signed letters rolling into the schools around the country.
One of the prospects that elected to wait is Eric Gray, and he will have the spotlight all to himself on Thursday when he announces his commitment at 1 p.m. ET.
Today, experts from the Rivals.com network examine where the versatile prospect will land. The candidates are South Carolina and Tennessee.
THE STORYLINE
Gray’s recruiting journey has seen plenty of twists and turns, including a few high school detours to the state of Florida and then back to the Memphis area. After picking up his first offer prior to starting high school, Gray added offers from some of the nation’s best before electing to commit to Michigan earlier this year. But as time went along, the distance between Ann Arbor and Memphis seemed to weigh on Gray, and he backed off his commitment to explore other options. Tennessee emerged as the quick favorite, but a late official to visit to South Carolina muddied the waters. So where will he land? We asked our local experts to weigh in and had Rivals.com national analyst Adam Gorney give his verdict.
SOUTH CAROLINA
“Tennessee has been the longtime leader here, and it's probably difficult for one to pick against the Vols at the end of the day. South Carolina's coaching staff, led by assistant Bobby Bentley, quickly made a move to get Gray on campus once he backed off his commitment to Michigan.
"On the strength of an official visit, USC worked itself into position with the four-star product to where the Gamecocks became the likely primary challenger to the Vols. Gray is intrigued by the stability in the program, South Carolina's need for a talented potential lead back and the work that the Gamecocks have done in recruiting offensive linemen to the program. “ -- Chris Clark, GamecockCentral.com
TENNESSEE
“The Vols were certainly a bit late to the party on Gray, but Tennessee's new staff made up for lost time with the in-state tailback, surging over the last two months. Gray has visited Knoxville three times in the last month, including an unofficial visit the day after he decommitted from Michigan. The Lausanne Collegiate School product was also back in town this past weekend, hanging out with a slew of Tennessee commits and top targets. At this point, it would be a real shocker if the All-American running back committed anywhere else other than Tennessee.” -- Jesse Simonton, Volquest.com
THE VERDICT
“South Carolina made things interesting with Gray when he took a late visit there, but my bet is that it was just to see one more campus before locking things up with Tennessee. There was a reason he de-committed from Michigan during a visit with the Vols - it's because he loved everything about the Tennessee program and he sees his future in Knoxville. South Carolina would be a major surprise here. Gray is all but locked up to join coach Jeremy Pruitt's recruiting class.” -- Gorney
