Tennessee strikes in Georgia again: Jaycee Horn's a Vol
Back on July 15th, Rivals250 cornerback Jaycee Horn was scheduled to announce his commitment. The destination was going to be Alabama or South Carolina.
That commitment never took place.
Tennessee never gave up, and it paid off for Butch Jones and the Vols on Thursday. Horn informed Jones on Tuesday evening.
"I am committed to Tennessee," Horn told Rivals. "I called coach Jones around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night and after we talked about the season, my first game last week and things like that. Before we hung up, I told him I wanted to commit.
"He didn't believe me at first. It was kind of late and he sounded tired, but once I told him that, he got excited and woke up a little bit.
"I let it get to the end of our conversation, then I hit him with the news. It was a pretty cool experience."
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Horn got the reaction he hoped for and the communication picked right back up Wednesday morning just to make sure Jones wasn't dreaming.
"Coach Jones and I talked again Wednesday morning and he told me that I gave him goose bumps and that he couldn't sleep Tuesday night because he was so excited.
"All of the Tennessee coaches were excited... and things have not gone any better. I think I surprised them a little, so it was exciting."
The coaching staff in Knoxville was the key to the Vols winning out for the four-star cornerback out of Alpharetta (Ga.). South Carolina finished No. 2 in this race.
"I have said from the beginning that relationships were the biggest thing for me, and that is what did it when I committed," said Horn. "I have a great relationship not only with coach [Charlton] Warren (defensive backs), my position coach, but with all of the coaches at Tennessee.
"It is like family up there and that is so important to me. I have been there a lot and every time I am there, it is a great feeling for me.
"I have spent time with the coaches, but I have also been around the players a lot. I have talked to them about the team, the school and the coaches, so I feel I have gotten a lot of good information from them. The players have told me about working hard, how it is as a student-athlete there, so I think I have a very good feel for things."
Horn is a strong commitment to Tennessee, but he is going to take his visits. He knows this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so he is still going to enjoy that.
"This is a special moment for me, so I am still going to have fun with it and take my official visits. This is something I will never get a chance to do again, though, so I want to go through it all.
"I feel good about my decision, I feel good about Tennessee, and I am not looking to change my mind. I felt ready to commit to Tennessee, so I wanted to make the decision and get it over with.
"It feels awesome."
