Tennessee: Vols await eligibility rulings

KNOXVILLE — After two days of preseason practice, Phillip Fulmer is still awaiting eligibility rulings on two immediate contributors and two future building blocks of his University of Tennessee football program.

Florida State tight end transfer Brandon Warren and junior college middle linebacker transfer Gerald Williams practiced with the team Sunday at Haslam Field, but high school signees Marlon Walls and Montori Hughes remained at home while the NCAA Clearinghouse remained mum on their futures.

Warren and Williams continued to dazzle on the practice field, which added to Fulmer’s excitement for this fall but didn’t diminish his impatience for news. Warren is waiting for clearance by the Southeastern Conference, while Williams is finishing a summer math class that will give him enough progress toward his degree for NCAA eligibility.

“When I hear something, you’ll be the first to know,” Fulmer told reporters after Sunday’s practice, before one question had been asked. “It might be painted on the side of that building right there.”

That building was UT’s mammoth Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. That’s how big these decisions could be for the Volunteers.

“Brandon’s very athletic,” Fulmer said. “Brandon will be a significant contributor to us when all of this gets straight.

“Same thing with Gerald Williams. He will be a significant contributor. I don’t think there’s any question about that, barring any injuries of anything like that.”

Warren has clearly stood out in the small portions of practice open to the media, and fellow tight end Luke Stocker said nothing has changed when reporters left.

“He’s looking real good out there,” Stocker said. “He’s already gotten himself in shape.”

Stocker and junior Jeff Cottam each give the Vols tall (at least 6-foot-6) tight end targets, while the 6-2, 230-pound Warren could be a difference-maker at H-back. Stocker, named one of the team’s two most improved offensive players this spring, said Warren’s arrival wouldn’t be cause for selfish concerns.

“So far, so good,” said Stocker, a sophomore. “That’s done nothing but get both of us more balls. We’re both a good tight end threat, so defenses can’t key on either one of us, … and either way, we feel like we’ll have a pretty good mismatch on the defense.”

Two freshman short

Fulmer said freshmen Montori Hughes and Marlon Walls were still home Sunday because neither had been approved by the Clearinghouse.

Hughes is a 6-5, 275-pound defensive tackle from Murfreesboro Siegel High School, while the 6-4, 240-pound Walls is a Memphis native who played middle linebacker and defensive end for Olive Branch (Miss.) High as a senior.

Walls was one of the Southeast’s top defensive prospects last season, while Hughes was a sleeper prospect who committed to UT late in the process.

Though the two freshmen might not make a major impact for the Vols this season — Walls could get a look on special teams — Fulmer didn’t seem thrilled to be waiting on news about them, either.

“Nothing’s changed,” Fulmer said. “We’re just waiting on the clearinghouse stuff to get squared away. I’ll put that right under the (Warren and Williams) news on the board over there.”