After almost a year with a scholarship offer in hand, Soddy-Daisy’s Tre Carter has committed to the University of Tennessee baseball program.
The outfielder was on his way home from a showcase in Tampa, Fla., on Friday when he called the Volunteers and told them he wanted to come.
“I had already been leaning to UT and I really want to go. I had held off for almost a year, and I just decided it was time to pull the trigger,” Carter said.
He is the third area player to commit to the baseball Vols in the past month, but he’ll be headed to Knoxville a year sooner than juniors Nick Woods (East Hamilton) and Gunnar Ricketts (Baylor).
Carter has had a busy summer. In addition to the trip to Tampa, he played for Tennessee in the Sunbelt tournament in Oklahoma, in the Perfect Game nationals in Fort Myers, Fla., and the Team USA tryouts and the East Coast Pro showcase in North Carolina. He is leaving Monday for the Area Code games in California.
His summer has been so hectic that he was unable to accept visit invitations from Alabama and Auburn. His Soddy-Daisy coach, Jared Hensley, had fielded calls also from Oklahoma State and Wake Forest, and Lee University also had been recruiting him.
Hensley said Tennessee will be getting a phenomenal athlete with great baseball ability.
“He still has a ton of untapped potential,” the coach said. “He’s 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, so he has room to grow. He’s very lean right now. He could go up there and easily handle another 20-25 pounds.”
Although he was among the area’s home run leaders last spring, Carter batted leadoff most of the year for the Trojans, who advanced to the eight-team Class AAA state tournament.
“While he was among the leaders in home runs, he led the area in triples also. He can fly,” Hensley said. “While it’s not ideal to have a home run guy as your leadoff, his speed gives him the ability to get on base and create problems.”
There seems little doubt that Carter eventually will be in center field, although he’s played all three outfield spots.
“He gets good reads on the ball and he can cover the ground, but he also has the arm for right field. His arm is one of his strengths that often get overlooked,” Hensley said.
There is a good chance that the Vols will have to fend off pro scouts.
“The draft is something that’s on my mind, but I’d rather have the college experience first. I want to make sure I’m ready,” Carter said.
“He has a good chance to get drafted, but a lot would have to fall into place to match a college scholarship,” Hensley said. “A lot of players dream of becoming big-league players, but how many of them make it? It’s important to Tre to have an education to fall back on.”
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.