The winter window for the NCAA transfer portal may have closed Wednesday, but that doesn't stop players from making commitments.
Cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally, who spent three years at Vanderbilt before playing this past season at Brigham Young University, committed Thursday to Tennessee. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder entered the transfer portal on Dec. 28, having collected four tackles 11 days earlier in BYU's 24-23 topping of SMU in the New Mexico Bowl to cap an 8-5 season.
"Let's get it Rocky Top," Jeudy-Lally wrote on Twitter, adding "#GBO" to his post.
Jeudy-Lally will arrive in Knoxville with 23 career starts, including 10 this past season for the Cougars and 10 with Vanderbilt in 2021. He played in four games as a freshman in 2019, allowing him to redshirt that year, so Jeudy-Lally will have two seasons of eligibility with the Volunteers should he decide to use the pandemic-related extra year the NCAA implemented in 2020.
During his stint with the Commodores, Jeudy-Lally played against Tennessee three times. In the 2020 matchup won by the Vols 42-17 in Nashville, he intercepted backup quarterback J.T. Shrout early in the fourth quarter and had a 30-yard return.
Jeudy-Lally was a three-star prospect in the 2019 signing cycle out of Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, getting pegged as the No. 1,894 overall recruit in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
The Vanderbilt alum transferred to BYU and in 13 games this past year amassed 47 tackles and seven pass breakups. Jeudy-Lally, whose grandfather played on the Ukrainian national soccer team, visited Tennessee earlier this month and also took trips to Baylor and UCLA.
Once at Tennessee, Jeudy-Lally will be reunited with linebacker Keenan Pili, who had 62 tackles during BYU's recent regular season before entering the portal.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.