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KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s football program could be in store for a big addition to its large 2015 set of recruits today as the Volunteers look to close out another top-tier class.
The Vols came down the stretch toward national signing day today with a nearly full class, but Tennessee will welcome one more addition if Drew Richmond, a five-star offensive tackle out of Memphis University School, inks with his home-state program.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Richmond committed to Ole Miss in September over Tennessee and Alabama, but after he took an official visit to Knoxville over the weekend, reports surfaced from Oxford late Monday night that he had decommitted from the Rebels. RebelGrove.com, the Ole Miss affiliate of the Rivals.com network, first reported the change.
Richmond hasn’t made any public comments since returning from his official visit to Tennessee.
Given Tennessee’s dearth of prototypical tackles, Richmond would be an important addition for the Vols, who had to use a former walk-on with a torn ACL, Jacob Gilliam, and Kyler Kerbyson, who’s more suited at guard, at offensive tackle for the second half of the 2014 season. Gilliam was a fifth-year senior, but Kerbyson will return.
The hope for Tennessee is that junior college transfer Dontavius Blair will be ready to contribute after taking a redshirt last season. Vols coaches were encouraged by his development from a strength and technique standpoint while he was redshirting. It’ll be a crucial spring for him with the Vols needing him to solidify one tackle spot.
Richmond could factor into the mix as a freshman if he does indeed sign with Tennessee. Cam Robinson at Alabama, Laremy Tunsil at Ole Miss and Ja’Wuan James at Tennessee are recent examples of freshmen starting at tackle immediately in the Southeastern Conference. James started all 49 games of his Vols career at right tackle and became an NFL first-round draft pick.
Using the 247Sports.com prospect rankings, Richmond would be the fifth five-star player in Tennessee’s 2015 class, joining early-enrolling junior college transfer tailback Alvin Kamara and defensive end Kyle Phillips along with defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, who will sign today.
Tennessee’s class already boasts three five-star prospects according to Rivals, and the Vols haven’t signed that many top-tier players in a single class since 2007, when Eric Berry headlined a group that included linebacker Chris Donald, defensive end Ben Martin, prep school defensive back Brent Vinson and junior college receiver Kenny O’Neal.
Aside from Richmond, signing day should be fairly calm for Tennessee, which isn’t expecting anything in the way of last-second switches or surprises. The Vols should hold on to Georgia guard Venzell Boulware, who took a recent visit to Ohio State. Running back Kendall Bussey did flip from the Vols to Texas A&M on Monday.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.