Marquez Bembry, one of Tennessee’s 2017 football signees, will not be joining the Vols this fall like originally planned.
According to a report from 247Sports, Bembry will be enrolling in junior college this fall rather than joining Tennessee. Bembry was rated as a borderline three/four-star athlete by 247Sports and was ranked as the No. 382 overall player in the country. The projected defensive end was rated as the No. 550 overall player according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Bembry was listed as an athlete coming out of high school, and at 6-foot-3, 214 pounds, he was going to likely need a redshirt year regardless to add bulk and get accustomed to a college defensive scheme. Now Bembry will be attending Jones County Junior College, which is in Ellisville, Mississippi, instead.
Also according to the 247Sports report, Bembry’s decision to attend junior college was likely because of academics. Bembry was also coming off surgery in October of 2016 to repair a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee.
With Bembry’s departure, the Vols are projected to have 27 of their original 28-player signing class join them from their 2017 class this fall. Wide receivers Jordan Murphy and Jacquez Jones couldn’t join Tennessee during the first session of summer classes, but now they are in Knoxville and are scheduled to attend classes at the start of the second session of summer classes this upcoming week.
