KNOXVILLE — The final month of football recruiting season has yet to arrive, but Tennessee continues to fill its 2012 class.
The Volunteers got public commitment No. 21 on Saturday when tight end Justin Meredith switched his pledge from North Carolina. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder from T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, S.C., chose the Tar Heels in June, but the school’s firing of coach Butch Davis led Meredith to look around. North Carolina hired Larry Fedora from Southern Mississippi earlier this week after interim coach Everett Withers led the Heels to a 7-5 record and the Independence Bowl.
Attempts to reach UT’s newest commitment were unsuccessful. Meredith is playing in the Shrine Bowl on Dec. 17, an all-star game of high school players from North and South Carolina.
Meredith officially visited Knoxville for the Vols’ overtime win against Vanderbilt last month and took an unofficial visit for the Georgia game. Rivals.com rates him as a three-star prospect and the nation’s No. 13 tight end. ESPN rates him as a four-star prospect, and Meredith will play in the Under Armour All-American game on Jan. 5 in Tampa, Fla.
“He can be a solid target in the passing game,” ESPN’s scouting report said. “He does not come across as a natural receiver who effortlessly plucks the ball, but he does have good hands and can extend and catch the ball away from his body.