Tennessee was supposed to have eight early enrollees for spring practices this year. But only seven were able to enroll early and participate during Jeremy Pruitt’s first spring as head football coach.
But now that early absentee is finally on campus.
According to his Twitter account, defensive lineman Kingston Harris is finally on campus and set to join Tennessee’s football roster after having to delay his enrollment by a few months. Harris will attend class at the beginning of the university’s May mini-session.
It’s official… I’m finally on campus ?? pic.twitter.com/zFQegxkxuR
— Kingston Harris (@KingstonH71) May 6, 2018
In January of this year, Pruitt stated that seven of the Vols’ early enrollees were all set to go and attending classes but one player was “waiting on a little bit of paperwork to get here.”
That paperwork didn’t come in January, however. And Harris never got to participate in practices this spring.
The 6-foot-3, 285 pound lineman is on campus now, though. And he’ll be able to interact and learn with his teammates this summer, and he’ll be on the field for fall camp in August.
As a recruit, Harris was a three-star defensive tackle who was rated as the No. 1,211 overall player and No. 81 defensive tackle in the 2018 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Harris played for the prestigious IMG Academy and totaled 133 tackles, 9 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles in his career there according to MaxPreps.
Tennessee’s previous coaching staff actually offered Harris back in March of 2017. But it wasn’t until Jeremy Pruitt and his staff took over at Tennessee that Harris became a real priority for the Vols. He took an official visit to Tennessee’s campus on December 15th, committed to the Vols on December 18th, then signed with Tennessee during the new early signing period on December 20th.
Harris was one of seven defensive linemen the Vols signed in their 2018 class. Now, however, a handful of those linemen have moved to other positions and may remain there. Four-star Jordan Allen moved from defensive end to more of an outside linebacker in Tennessee’s new 3-4 defensive scheme, and four-star lineman Greg Emmerson moved to the offensive line for a while this spring as well.
The Vols will welcome in four-star defensive tackle Brant Lawless, four-star JUCO lineman Emmit Gooden, three-star lineman John Mincey, and three-star lineman Kurott Garland this summer and fall as well.
