Vols, Gators in mix for four-star LB

Four-star Florence (S.C.) Wilson linebacker Lawrence Timmons is commanding some serious attention on the recruiting trail this season, as evidenced by the type of calls he’s been receiving the last eight days.

“I’ve got a bunch of calls. Some of them I wasn’t here to take, but a lot of schools have been calling,” he said. “I just got off the phone with Tennessee. Coach Brooks called me. He was telling me about wanting to get me in there for a game and an official visit this season, so we talked a little bit about that.

“I also got calls from Clemson, North Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.”

Timmons (6-3, 220, 4.6) has offers from Tennessee, Maryland, Florida, Michigan, Kentucky, South Carolina and North Carolina. He’s also drawing interest from Miami and Virginia.

“My top three are Florida, Michigan and Miami,” he said. “Florida is No. 1 right now. I think they’re a team on the way back up. You could see that when they played Miami. They’re going to be great again. I really like their coaching staff. Coach Strong is a good coach. I liked him a lot when he was at South Carolina, and he’s recruiting me now for Florida. I’m going to be visiting down there for sure.”

Timmons said he wasn’t sure when or where his other visits would come, although Miami would be a strong candidate with a scholarship offer.

“Right now, I’m concentrating on the SAT coming up next month,” he said. “Once I get that out of the way, I think I’ll know when I can start making some visits.”

As a junior, Timmons played tight end and linebacker for Wilson, recording 42 catches for 680 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense while chalking up 95 tackles and four sacks on defense.

The No. 6 rated outside linebacker in the Class of 2004, he’s tallied 29 tackles through the first two games of his senior season. He had 17 tackles and a forced fumble in last week’s game.