Tennessee football has an in-state running back recruiting target on campus this weekend for his official visit. Asa Barnes announced he’s in town on his X account on Friday.
Barnes ranks as a three-star recruit, according to 247 Composite. He is the No. 553 player in the country, No. 36 running back and No. 24 player from the state of Tennessee. He stars for Westview High School in Martin, Tennessee.
This will be far from the first time that Barnes has made the trip to Knoxville, though. Most recently, he was in town on April 11, 2026, to see the annual spring Orange and White Game. The 5-foot-11 running back’s primary recruiter at Tennessee is running backs coach De’Rail Sims.
The other official visit Barnes has taken this summer was to Arkansas at the end of May. He also holds offers from the likes of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Missouri, USC, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State and more.
GBO🍊?? pic.twitter.com/ZOZ8dE14Uv
— Asa Barnes (@iamd1asa34) June 19, 2026
More From RTI: Former Tennessee Quarterback Gives Glowing Praise For QB Coach Joey Halzle
Currently, the Vols don’t have a running back commitment in the 2027 cycle. However, they’re deep in the race for five-star in-state back David Gabriel Georges. He is coming off official visits to Ohio State, Tennessee and then Ole Miss. After cancelling his trip to see Georgia, he’s hunkering down to make his highly anticipated decision for where he will attend college.
Last cycle, Tennessee also swung big for five-star running back Savion Hiter. However, the Vols ultimately lost out to Michigan in his recruitment. In response, UT picked up a later signing from three-star back Will Rajecki, who will join the team for fall camp as a standard enrollee.
Tennessee’s 2027 class holds the commitment of 16 players so far. It ranks as the No. 42 group in the country on 247.
