Tennessee has its first commitment since Sept, 17, and it’s a very big one.
The Vols landed the top junior college defensive end in the nation, according to 247sports rankings, on Sunday afternoon when 6-foot-6, 255-pound four-star end Jonathan Kongbo III of Arizona Western Community College made his pledge via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/King_Kongbo/status/671083336434065408
Kongbo III was a visitor for Tennessee’s 53-28 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. He picked the Vols over offers from Oregon, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn and over a dozen other offers. As a freshman at Arizona Western in 2015, Kongbo III recorded 49 tackles, 12 TFLs and 9.5 sacks, per the team’s official site.
He’ll join a loaded group of defensive ends at Tennessee that should include Derek Barnett, Corey Vereen, LaTroy Lewis, Kyle Phillips and others in 2016. Senior defensive end/outside linebacker Curt Maggitt technically could be back in 2016 as well if he appeals for a sixth year of eligibility, but that’s still to be determined.
Kongbo III, who is originally from Canada and only played one partial season of high school football before heading to junior college, is the No. 1 overall junior college player in the nation, per 247Sports. Tennessee redshirt sophomore running back Alvin Kamara was 247Sports’ top JUCO player in the 2015 class. Kongbo III has three years of eligibility remaining.
Tennessee now sits at 18 commitments in the 2016 class.
Rankings:
247Sports: ★★★★
ESPN.com: ★★★★
Rivals.com: ★★★★
Scout.com: ★★★★
RTI average: 4-stars
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