Rivals Names Tennessee As One of the Top Winners in July Recruiting. Here’s Why.

By Ric Butler
- Aug 1, 2025

Tennessee recruiting — Tennessee HC Josh Heupel at a Tennessee basketball game. Photo via Tennessee Athletics.

Tennessee’s recruiting department has been on a heater this summer.

Entering the month of June, the Vols had just seven commitments in the 2026 cycle. Now, with two months passed since then, Tennessee’s class is all the way up to 23 commitments and a Top 10 ranking on 247Sports.

The month of June was a big one for adding some needed depth to the class. The Vols added six total commitments with five three-stars and one four-star.

But then July hit.

In the 31 days of July, Tennessee landed 10 commitments. It wasn’t all just about depth, though. The Vols landed several blue-chip commitments in the class to bolster their ranking. As the calendar flips to August, five of Tennessee’s top seven recruits have all come in the last month.

Tennessee was recently named one of the 10 recruiting winners in the month of July, courtesy of Rivals’ Adam Gorney. The Vols sit alongside Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.

Tennessee kicked off the month by adding three players on the first day of the month: three-star CB Jamyan Theodore, four-star DL Dereon Albert, and four-star LB TJ White. Albert and White both come from Jackson Academy in Jackson, MS, so it was a nice get by Tennessee to keep two standout high school teammates in the same recruiting class. Theodore is an in-state prospect from Baylor School in Chattanooga.

Three-star defensive lineman Darryl Rivers made his own fireworks on the 4th of July, committing to Tennessee out of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, GA.

Just a few days later, on July 8, Tennessee added two more commitments. The first came from three-star defensive back Javonte Smith, who chose to stay in-state over Arkansas, Missouri, and WVU. The second of the day was a huge splash as Tennessee landed four-star linebacker Brayden Rouse out of Kell High School in Marietta, GA. Rouse is ranked as the No. 4 linebacker in the class and was a huge addition to already landing TJ White, who is ranked as the No. 5 linebacker.

On July 9, Tennessee bolstered its secondary with a commitment from safety Jowell Combay, a teammate of Rouse’s at Kell High School. Then, on July 11, the Vols continued their hot streak by landing three/four-star offensive tackle J.B. Shabazz from East Forsyth in Kernersville, NC. Shabazz picked the Vols over South Carolina and Ohio State.

While more than two weeks passed without a commitment, Tennessee finished out the month strong with a pair of blue-chip four-star commitments. The Vols beat out Vanderbilt for in-state athlete Joel Wyatt, a two-way player out of the Nashville area, on July 28. Tennessee then closed out the month by adding another two-way phenom with athlete Salesi Moa on the final day of July. The Vols captured a huge commitment with Moa, beating out his home-state Utah Utes for the ultra-talented prospect.

By the end of the month, Tennessee’s recruiting class had climbed up to the No. 9 spot in 247’s rankings.