KNOXVILLE – Marlin Lane had been a Clemson Tiger for 19 months.
When the star running back committed to the Tigers roughly a month after finishing his sophomore year at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla., he probably didn’t envision his future in a different shade of orange.
All that changed in a weekend trip to the University of Tennessee.
“I feel like that’s the perfect spot for me,” said the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Lane, who officially signed Wednesday morning with the Volunteers. “They’re a young team that’s going to be a great team. I enjoyed being up there, and I liked the coaches and the environment.”
But getting to that weekend wasn’t uneventful for Lane. His stock soared during his outstanding junior season, when he rushed for 10 touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards and carried his Mainland team into the playoffs in Class 6A, Florida’s largest.