Report: J.J. Peterson Finally Cleared to Join Vols

The most-talked about player on the Vols’ roster is finally officially actually on Tennessee’s roster.

According to a report from 247Sports, four-star linebacker J.J. Peterson has finally officially been cleared by the NCAA to join Tennessee for the 2018 season. According to his high school head coach Rush Propst, Peterson was cleared by the NCAA Eligibility Center on Friday and is expected to join the Vols next week.

Peterson has been waiting all summer and this past month to be academically eligible and cleared to join Tennessee. And now he’s in at seemingly the very last second.

According to Propst, Peterson will join the Vols next week and begin practicing immediately. He still has to go through the NCAA-mandated acclimation period and won’t be able to workout in full pads for about a week, however.

The 6-foot-2, 231-pound linebacker was rated as the No. 48 overall player and No. 3 outside linebacker in the 2018 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the highest-rated player the Vols signed in their 2018 class.

Ideally, Peterson would’ve been part of Tennessee’s roster over the summer and participated in the offseason strength and conditioning program and gone through fall camp. As it is, however, Peterson appears like he’ll be a prime candidate to redshirt this season. But with the NCAA’s new redshirt rules, Peterson will be able to appear in up to four games and still retain this year of eligibility.

The fall semester started for the University of Tennessee a week and a half ago, and Friday was the final day to add or drop classes. Peterson made it in under the wire according to the university’s rule.

At long last, the wait is finally over, and J.J. Peterson looks like he’ll officially be a Vol this year.