Two early recruiting trends continued for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team Friday as the Mocs landed their third commitment from an offensive lineman in this case Hunter Kennedy, who also is the second UAB transfer in as many days.
The 6-foot-4, 275-pound Kennedy made his commitment public Friday afternoon, shortly after returning from a recruiting trip to Eastern Illinois.
“After looking around I just felt like UTC was the best fit for me,” said Kennedy, who visited the UTC campus last week. “I liked the whole atmosphere of the school and the program while I was there. They have a lot of guys coming back, and all of them that I met seem like good guys on and off the field.
“I wanted to go ahead and get it done before Christmas, so now I’ll be ready to go.”
Kennedy, who helped pave the way for three 1,000-yard rushers his senior year at Charles Henderson High School in Troy, Ala., and led them to a state championship game, will enroll at UTC in January.
He redshirted last year at UAB and will have four years of eligibility remaining. He said that Mocs coaches told him he likely will play guard.
Once UAB shut down its program, Kennedy had offers to transfer to Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Illinois, Buffalo and Mercer.
“That was a frustrating process because I planned to be at UAB for five years,” Kennedy said. “But I’m excited about what UTC can do now. The season they had last year and all the talent they’ve got coming back played a little bit into it. I want to go somewhere that I can win. I’m not a fan of losing.”
Kennedy is UTC’s fifth overall commitment and third in the last two days, joining UAB tight end transfer Steve Pickren, Science Hill offensive lineman Malcolm White, Dobyns-Bennett offensive lineman Taylor Helton and Cherokee (Ga.) linebacker Michael Bean.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.