Tennessee continues to recruit far and wide.
The Volunteers picked up their 11th football commitment for the 2025 signing cycle on Wednesday, receiving a nonbinding pledge from edge rusher Jayden Loftin of Somerville, New Jersey. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder is a four-star prospect on the 247Sports.com composite rankings, checking in as the nation’s No. 27 edge rusher and No. 344 overall recruit.
Loftin was offered a scholarship by Tennessee in late December and took an unofficial visit to Knoxville in early April. He returned for an official visit this past weekend and committed.
“It was just a great fit for me and my family,” Loftin told 247Sports.com. “My mom was like, ‘I could leave you here and be comfortable with you being here,’ so that was a big boost. As long as my family is good.”
Penn State, Syracuse and Wisconsin were also in the hunt for Loftin, who took an official visit to Wisconsin before his official to Tennessee. He no longer plans to visit Penn State and Syracuse.
The Vols currently have a starting quarterback from California (Nico Iamaleava), a reserve tight end from Nigeria (Emmanuel Okoye) and one player from New Jersey, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jayson Jenkins from Bordentown. Jenkins nearly entered the NCAA transfer portal in late April after the Orange & White spring game before deciding to stay put.
Also on the commitment front, Tennessee’s baseball program landed Thomas Crabtree, a right-handed pitcher from Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi. The 6-4, 194-pounder from the Memphis suburb of Collierville went 10-2 with a 2.96 earned run average this past season, racking up 105 strikeouts in 76 innings.
Crabtree became Pear River’s first pitcher to amass 100 strikeouts in a season since 2008.
“My childhood dream of wearing the Power T is real,” Crabtree posted on social media.
Orange vs. Orange
ESPN announced Wednesday afternoon that the Tennessee men’s basketball team will face Syracuse inside the Food City Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the second annual ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Vols and the Orange played last November in a different event, with Tennessee rolling to a 73-56 victory in the first round of the Maui Invitational. Tennessee leads the all-time series 4-3.
This year’s two headline pairings in the 16-game ACC/SEC extravaganza take place Wednesday, Dec. 4, when Auburn travels to Duke while Alabama visits North Carolina in a rematch of this past season’s Sweet 16 matchup won by the Crimson Tide.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.