Sting Factor: Terrence Lewis decommits from Tennessee

When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.

TENNESSEE 2021 COMMITMENT LIST

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Terrence Lewis was the highest-rated prospect in Tennessee’s recruiting class but that all ended on Monday when the four-star linebacker pulled a stunner and backed off his pledge to the Vols.

The Miami (Fla.) Central inside linebacker was a huge recruiting victory for coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee staff when he picked the Vols in April. Recruiting South Florida is crucial. Getting a player as valuable as Lewis was important. He has the ability to see the field early even if the position is loaded in Knoxville.

But now he’s back on the market.

In his social media post announcing his de-commitment, Lewis said Tennessee remains his top school. Miami could get more seriously involved. Florida could become a major player. Other SEC programs are inevitably going to get in the mix.

Tennessee had Lewis locked up but now the Vols have to work again to get the talented Miami Central standout back in the class.

“If you had asked most Vol fans two months ago before the first football went into the air, who was most likely to de-commit, most would have said Lewis. Lewis flirted with several programs after picking Tennessee back in the spring. Between Damarius McGhee and Lewis, it’s the cornerback from Pensacola that is a far greater loss. Tennessee has decent depth at inside linebacker and while the loss of Lewis does sting, it isn’t quite the same sting as McGhee. He says Tennessee is his top school so they will have a shot to still land him.” - Austin Price, Volquest.com

Sting Factor: 6

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“Lewis was the face of this Vols recruiting class in many ways, a huge recruiting win from South Florida who was on the cusp of a fifth star. Losing him hurts and hurts badly. The Vols need quick-twitch defenders with an attitude like Lewis and they need to ties to the talent in South Florida. This is a bad one.” — Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director Rivals.com

Sting factor: 9