Last year, Tennessee attacked the grad transfer market pretty aggressively. Jeremy Pruitt and his staff brought in quarterback Keller Chryst, running back Madre London, and offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy as grad transfers last offseason, and they were interested in several others throughout the process. So far this time around, Tennessee hasn’t brought in any grad transfers for the 2019 roster. That looks like it’s about to change, though.
According to Grant Taylor of The Herald-Dispatch, Tennessee has extended a scholarship offer to Marshall grad transfer offensive lineman Alex Locklear. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday, and Tennessee is reportedly already very interested in his services.
“Locklear, a former Spring Valley High School football standout, is on pace to graduate this spring and will have one year of eligibility left,” Taylor wrote. “It is likely Locklear will use that year to transfer to the University of Tennessee. Sources also confirmed that he has a scholarship offer from Tennessee’s coaching staff.”
If Locklear ends up coming to Tennessee, he’ll be reuniting with his younger brother.
Riley Locklear is a junior offensive lineman on the Vols’ roster, and Alex is his older brother. The two attended the same high school — Spring Valley High School in Huntington, West Virginia — and both play offensive line.
Last season, Alex Locklear appeared in all 13 games for Marshall and made one start. In his four years at Marshall, he appeared in 35 games and made two starts. Locklear played a variety of roles for Marshall, playing at both tackle and guard along the offensive line. He was expected to compete for a starting role for the Thundering Herd this year.
Coming out of high school, Locklear was a two-star prospect whose only scholarship offers were from Marshall, Holy Cross, and James Madison.
While Tennessee hasn’t brought in any grad transfers this offseason, they were fairly active in the transfer market a few months ago. The Vols have added Michigan defensive lineman Aubrey Solomon and Georgia defensive back Deangelo Gibbs to their roster via transfer. Tennessee is still waiting to hear back from the NCAA about whether or not those two will have immediate eligibility for the 2019 season, however.
Locklear will be able to play immediately at whichever school he transfers to.
