According to multiple reports, the wait may finally soon be over for Tennessee and their top-ranked signee from the 2018 recruiting class.
Per a report from Tennessee’s Rivals.com affiliate site, four-star linebacker J.J. Peterson has “finished his coursework” and is now awaiting clearance from the NCAA Clearinghouse and for his professor to grade his work. Tennessee’s 247Sports affiliate site reported similar news earlier today.
According to Peterson’s high school coach, Rush Propst, Peterson should be ready to join UT officially after this weekend. “He should be there by Monday or Tuesday,” Propst told Volquest.
Vol fans have been waiting on Peterson’s arrival on campus for months. Peterson, who was rated as the No. 48 overall player and No. 3 outside linebacker in the 2018 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, has been dealing with academic hangups all offseason. Those issues have delayed his enrollment all summer and now all through August.
If Peterson does officially join the Vols early next week, he’ll be coming in after Tennessee has already finished up all their summer conditioning and strength training and after the team has run through all their fall camp preparation. He’ll join UT in the middle of their preparations for their Week 1 match-up with West Virginia.
The reports from both Rivals and 247Sports today came after Internet speculation rose to new levels on Friday morning. Several Twitter users screenshot a conversation on Peterson’s Facebook page where he said he would be joining the Vols on either Monday or Tuesday, which lines up with Propst’s comments to Volquest.
JJ Peterson says on FB that he’ll be at Tennessee on Monday or Tuesday. ?????
Credit to the brother of @SwainEvent caller Daniel for bringing this to our attention. pic.twitter.com/GDb7H0ILkX
— Charlie Burris (@Charlie_Burris) August 24, 2018
Tennessee’s classes for the fall semester already started this past week, but Peterson still has time to join and get his classes in order for the semester. The Vols begin the 2018 season on September 1st, so it’s unlikely Peterson will be ready to go for their season opener against West Virginia.
We will update as more information becomes available.
