With national signing day approaching, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team picked up a commitment over the weekend from Elijah Pankey, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound athlete from John Overton High School in Nashville.
Pankey becomes the Mocs’ 17th commitment.
Pankey’s dad, Phillip, prepped at Rhea County, then played at Middle Tennessee State before transferring to UTC in the late 1980s.
The younger Pankey was an All-Region 3-6A selection in 2015 for the 8-4 Bobcats.
“It’s a great football program and school, and I felt honored that they wanted me to come and play for them,” Elijah said Sunday.
He said he still has a lot of family in Rhea County, as well as Cleveland and Chattanooga.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@ timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.