Whether it’s on offense or defense, Tennessee needs more speed on their roster. The Vols added some quicker players to the team in their 2019 signing class, and UT has offered several athletes with a lot of speed in the 2020 class as well. On Tuesday, one of the faster players on Tennessee’s board included UT in his trimmed down list of top teams.
Sam Brown, a three-star athlete who plays for New Hampstead in Bloomingdale, Georgia, tweeted out a graphic on Tuesday afternoon displaying the top 10 teams in his recruitment. Tennessee made the list along with Oregon, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, Purdue, UCF, Cincinnati, Colorado, and Wake Forest.
Thanks to the man above ?? Top 10 ? * recruitment still open* @SoutheastVisual pic.twitter.com/eGUgfeuqpV
— Sam Brown (@playboisammy) June 4, 2019
Right now, Brown is only rated as a low three-star on 247Sports, coming in as the No. 1,128 overall prospect in the 2020 class. But the multi-sport athlete has blown up on the recruiting trail after he put up some very impressive numbers at the Charlotte regional camp of Nike’s The Opening back on April 29th.
At the camp, Brown got a football rating of 104.94, which ranked in the 99th percentile. He ran a laser-timed 4.45-second 40-yard dash time. At 6-foot-2, 186 pounds, that’s even more impressive than it is on its own. He also had a nearly 38-inch vertical and had a 38-foot power ball. His shuttle time wasn’t as elite, timing in at 4.66 seconds, but everything else Brown did was exceptional.
Since posting those impressive times and measureables, Brown has added offers from Kentucky, Oregon, Syracuse, Michigan, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Purdue among others.
It’s clear that Brown’s stock is starting to sky-rocket, and his film matches what his testing at The Opening’s regional camp suggests.
Brown has impressive speed and can separate from a defender in a second on offense. He lines up in various spots at wide receiver, and he’s used primarily as a deep threat. But Brown can also run shorter routes and turn those into big plays. He’ll need to work on his route running more and develop a more diversified route tree if he sticks with receiver at the next level. On defense, Brown is an instinctual defensive back and uses his size to his advantage. He reads quarterbacks fairly well and is a dangerous ball hawk. On both offense and defense, Brown times his jumps well and uses his incredible vertical athleticism to highpoint balls and keep it away from the opponent. His leaping and quickness are his two strongest attributes by far.
As a junior for New Hampstead, Brown caught 19 passes for 435 yards and four touchdowns on offense and totaled 37 tackles, a tackle for loss, and an interception he returned 99 yards for a touchdown on defense according to MaxPreps. He also picked off three passes as a sophomore on defense.
Brown not only plays football at a high level, but he’s also a solid contributor for New Hampstead in basketball and track. The diverse athlete was a first-team all-region selection in basketball and has qualified for the state meet in the long jump twice.
Tennessee isn’t the only program to take notice of Brown now that he’s finally gotten the spotlight, and the Vols may start to get more involved in his recruitment as well.
Our Take:
UCF was one of Brown’s earlier offers in football, and they seem to be the slight early favorite for him. But with all the attention he’s getting now, Brown’s recruitment is about to hit another level. Tennessee is closer to home for Brown than any other school on his list, so that’s a plus for UT if that’s important to Brown.
Ultimately, it’s too early to have too much of a read on Brown’s recruitment since he’s just now starting to get a ton of notice. The Vols really liked him at a recent camp, and it’ll be interesting to see how much they pursue him and what his timeline is like.
