KNOXVILLE – It wasn’t quite the June Saturday of nine commitments, but Tennessee enjoyed a productive stretch of recruiting last week.
The Volunteers began with the late addition of 2016 running back Jeremy Lewis and the commitments of brothers Breyon and Brandon Gaddy, and by the end of the week Tennessee made another late addition to its 2016 class and picked up three 2017 commitments while hosting a handful of other top targets.
Mykelle McDaniel was the only one of those targets taking an official visit to Knoxville, and the defensive end from Georgia wound up signing with Tennessee as a late 2016 addition on Saturday.
The recruiting process for the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder out of Logansville’s Grayson High School went beyond signing day amid academic concerns, and Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas A&M had shown interest since March.
McDaniel’s recruitment see-sawed as he struggled with weight and motivation, but it makes sense for the Vols to take a flyer on him. They signed only two junior college transfers – including Alexis Johnson, who was arrested in February and is indefinitely suspended – for the defensive line in their 2016 class.