VOLuntarilyConservative

Many are waiting with baited breath as to who Andre Smith, the #2 player in the nation, will choose momentarily. The smart money is on Alabama, but you can't count out LSU and USC. I think that Florida is out of it.

Ramone Johnson was just on Rivals Radio. He sounds like one heck of a competitor, saying that he didn't have any friends right now in Knoxville so that he could compete for a starting position on the line. He said that he would make friends after the two-deep is set. That's beautiful.

UPDATE: Andre Smith has just announced for Alabama. This is not good for UT. He will start at Alabama from Day One - no question about it.

There are two more commitments to announce for UT. The newest Vols are:

UT Commitment #18 - Victor Thomas



Victor Thomas, a 6'4", 250 pound defensive end who hails from Olive Branch, Mississippi, played primarily at the defensive tackle position in high school. He reminds me of current Vol Turk McBride, and it wouldn't surprise me if Victor ends up like Turk, spending time at both DE and DT. Thomas' high school coach, Jamie Mitchell, is obviously impressed with the young man:

"Victor Thomas, his speed is the big thing. He ran a 4.92 just yesterday. He is 6-4 and 250 pounds and you don’t find many of those guys that can run like that. He is just a real athletic kid. He has really long arms and he is just one of those kids that I think is going to grow some more too. He has a great frame to put on even more weight and defensive linemen are hard to find."

Thomas shows excellent technique in his game film, exhibiting both power moves and quickness to get around blockers. He will probably see regular playing time in 2007. Thomas chose the Vols over Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Louisville.

UT Commitment #19 - Justin Garrett



Justin Garrett (far right, above) is a JUCO safety who looks to see immediate playing time for Tennessee. Garrett, 6'2", 195 pounds, hits much harder than his small frame. In fact, his dominant play and hard hitting reminded me of former JUCO, former Vol and current starting safety for the New York Giants Gibril Wilson.

"That's (free safety) where they're talking about me playing, which I like. Just in talking with the coaches, I really like what I know about their scheme. I know that they ask their safeties to do a lot of different things that puts a lot of pressure on them to make plays. I like that, I think I'm a versatile player that can handle it."

One aspect that makes Garrett even more attractive for UT is that his brother, Brandon, will be following Justin to UT and walking on as a preferred walk-on. Brandon was offered scholarships by other Division 1 teams, so UT basically gets two players for the price of one in this case.

"That was a big deal, having my brother come with me. That was one of the reasons that I liked Missouri, because they were recruiting him too, and said that they might have a scholarship for him, but they couldn't promise anything, so I had to go ahead and make the best decision for myself."

Garrett, a native of Louisiana, picked Tennessee over Missouri and Washington.

My apologies for the picture above, but Rivals, Scout, and even the Pasadena newspapers don't have pictures of Justin. I just wanted to prove to myself that he existed.