The Vols have been on the hunt for some highly-rated prospects to join their 2020 recruiting class. They’ve missed on a few early in the process so far, but Tennessee’s coaches have kept on swinging. Now, they’re one of the top teams for a versatile and speedy athlete in Mississippi.
Lideatrick Griffin is a four-star athlete who plays for Philadelphia High School down in Philadelphia, Mississippi. On Tuesday, he tweeted out his list of top five schools, and Tennessee made the cut along with Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn, and Southern Miss.
My Top 5 Schools❗️??
1.Mississippi State
2.Ole Miss
3.Auburn
4.Tennessee
5.Southern Miss— Tulu??? (@LideatrickG) May 21, 2019
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Griffin is the No. 246 overall prospect and No. 14 athlete in the 2020 class. He’s also rated as the No. 4 player in the state of Mississippi by those rankings. Back in early November of 2018, Griffin committed to Mississippi State. But on May 8th of this year, Griffin reopened his recruitment and decommitted from the Bulldogs. Still, Mississippi State is involved in Griffin’s recruitment, and he still considers them one of his top teams.
Griffin is a blazing fast athlete who has played a multitude of positions for Philadelphia. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound athlete has played wide receiver, running back, safety, kick returner, punt returner, and wildcat quarterback in his high school career. He’s reportedly been timed running a 4.43-second 40-yard dash and has reportedly run the 100 meters in 10.36 seconds. He likely projects as a receiver in college, but his future position is still up in the air.
When watching Griffin’s film, his speed immediately jumps off the screen, as does his versatility. Philadelphia’s coaches just give Griffin the ball as much as they can in any way they can, and they’re smart to do so. He uses his hands very well as a receiver, and he has great instincts there. Griffin has solid footwork and awareness, and that’s even further aided by his elite quickness and breakaway speed. On defense, Griffin has a nose for the football and, again, shows off his good awareness there.
In his junior season at Philadelphia, Griffin caught 47 passes for 768 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 25 carries for 507 yards and five scores according to MaxPreps. He also returned a punt for a touchdown as a junior.
In his entire high school career, Griffin has scored a total of 33 touchdowns in 36 games. He’s caught 17 touchdown passes, scored nine rushing touchdowns, returned five kicks for scores, returned a punt for a touchdown, and has thrown a touchdown. He’s also intercepted four passes on defense.
Right now, Griffin hasn’t taken a visit to Tennessee’s campus, but the Vols have been involved in his recruitment for well over a year. UT’s coaching staff offered him in May of 2018 and have kept in touch with him ever since.
