With uncertainty surrounding the availability of scholarships due to altered NCAA rules extending eligibility for current college athletes, high school seniors are looking for opportunities they can latch on to when it comes to playing at the next level.
Christian Anderson saw one he liked with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program and hopped right on it.
Anderson, a 6-foot-7, 275-pound offensive tackle, recently became the first player to commit to the Mocs for the current signing cycle, choosing UTC over offers from Austin Peay, Morgan State, Southeast Missouri State, Texas Southern and UT-Martin. He's playing his final high school season at Cedar Grove near Atlanta after playing previously at another Georgia program, Rockdale County, where he was an All-Region 8-AAAAAAA second-team selection.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has already affected how recruiting has happened this year, with extended dead periods making the process more virtual on both ends, it also could alter how much recruiting takes place.
Coach Rusty Wright's Mocs have three senior starters on their offensive line in 2020-21 - Kyle Miskelley, Harrison Moon and Cole Strange - but the NCAA has granted fall sports athletes an extra year of eligibility, meaning those three and other senior football players could be back even if they participate in UTC's Oct. 24 game at Western Kentucky as well as the expected spring season. That creates a potential financial hardship for colleges if they try to fund extra scholarships, an effect that could trickle down to recruiting.
Anderson is among the high school athletes who want to secure college spots while they're still being offered.
"Chattanooga showed the most love," Anderson said this week. "I was always talking to a coach, or always in contact with someone from the coaching staff down to the players - even before I was committed, I was always talking to someone."
Anderson mentioned director of recruiting Zach Kramme, recruiting coordinator Landius Wilkerson and offensive line coach Chris Malone as people he communicated with heavily.
Now he can fully focus on his senior high school season as Cedar Grove finally kicks off this week at Milton. Then he can turn his attention to helping out the Mocs.
"I just want to put my best foot forward when I get to Chattanooga," he said. "Whether it is me giving all I have or whether it's uplifting my teammates, I'd like to get out of Chattanooga everything I can get."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.