Published Jul 18, 2023
Power Five teams that loaded up on Tennessee talent
Sean Williams  •  Rivals.com
National Recruiting Analyst

Year-in and year-out, the state of Tennessee is loaded with top-tier high school talent. Rivals.com takes a look at which power five programs have loaded up with multiple commitments from the Volunteer State in the 2024 class.

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Tennessee:

The Volunteers are one of the nation's hottest programs right now, so naturally Josh Heupel and his staff are scooping up some of the state's best talent. That includes the No. 1 overall player in-state and Rivals250 athlete Boo Carter, who will play defensive back and get a few looks on the offensive side of the ball as well.

Tennessee's defensive backfield haul also includes Kaleb Beasley, another four-star talent, along with three-star safety Marcus Goree, Jr.

The Vols also have talented edge rusher Carson Gentle out of McCallie (Tenn.), who has been committed for a year now, and they added bulk along the offensive line in the spring with three-star talent Jesse Perry.

Tennessee's impressive in-state haul could grow in the next few weeks with four-star linebacker Edwin Spillman (July 21st) and four-star wide receiver Amari Jefferson (August 5th) set to make their college decisions.

Spillman will choose between Ohio State and Tennessee while Jefferson's finalists include Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

Vanderbilt:

Head coach Clark Lea and the Commodores have also flourished within the state borders, landing five commitments in their 2024 class so far. The headliner is three-star wide receiver Markeis Barrett, who Vanderbilt was able to flip from Wake Forest.

Vandy also scored a couple of early quarterback commits out of the Chattanooga area in Jeremy St-Hilaire and Whitt Muschamp.

They added a gap-filling defensive tackle from nearby Davidson Academy (Tenn.) in Glenn Seabrooks and landed a verbal pledge from Ensworth (Tenn.) cornerback Jaren Sensabaugh, who turned heads during summer camps and also had Duke and NC State involved in his recruitment.

North Carolina:

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown is a Cookeville, Tennessee native and that is evident from the trio of prospects the Tar Heels currently have committed from the Volunteer state.

Crews Law is a thumper at inside linebacker that chose North Carolina over Vanderbilt. Daniel Anderson was a nice, early spring commitment for the Tar Heels that will fill a need as an edge rusher.

Since his father is a UNC alum, Luke Masterson naturally grew up a Tar Heels fan, now the 6-foot-6, 270-pound prospect will give them lengthy and athleticism at offensive tackle.

Mississippi State:

Zach Arnett and Mississippi State are putting an emphasis on offensive line recruiting in this year's class. They currently have four commitments along the offensive front with two of those hailing from the Memphis area in three-stars Luke Work and Kison Shepard.

Ole Miss:

Ole Miss always pickup a few talented players from Tennessee every recruiting cycle. This year was no different as Lane Kiffin and his crew snagged four-star offensive tackle John Wayne Oliver, the No. 4 player in the state, who picked Ole Miss over the likes of Auburn and TCU.

South Gibson (Tenn.) outside linebacker Cameron Clark was another nice pickup for Ole Miss, who beat out Pitt for his services.

Duke:

Duke is riding a lot of momentum with head coach Mike Elko orchestrating a 9-4 campaign in his first season. Their 2024 class currently features 20 commitments and a ranking of 28th nationally, according to Rivals.com.

Among the talented group includes three-star outside linebacker Kobe Smith, who chose the Blue Devils over the likes of Vanderbilt, Stanford, and others. Duke also scooped up three-star, uber-athletic offensive tackle Robert Bourdon, beating out Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Stanford.

Purdue:

New Purdue head coach Ryan Walters has targeted quite a few Tennessee prospects during his short tenure in West Lafayette. So far, his efforts have paid off with two spring 2024 commitments from versatile and quick running back Jaheim Merriweather out of Bearden (Tenn.) along with physical safety D'Mon Marable out of Clinton (Tenn.).