Tennessee landed one of their top targets on Wednesday morning when four-star athlete Dee Beckwith chose the Vols over Florida. Now, UT has picked up another one of their top targets on National Signing Day.
Four-star wide receiver Malachi Wideman officially flipped his commitment from Florida State to Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon, choosing the Vols over the Seminoles, Oregon, Ole Miss, and others.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound athlete plays both football and basketball for Venice High School in Venice, Florida. And he’s a standout in both sports.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Wideman is the No. 116 overall prospect and No. 22 wide receiver in the 2020 class. As a basketball recruit, Wideman is also a four-star prospect on 247Sports, coming in at No. 126 overall in the regular 247Sports rankings.
Wideman committed to Florida State back in early May of 2019, but once the Seminoles made a coaching change, Wideman elected not to sign early with the Seminoles and left the door open for other teams to pursue him.
Tennessee did just that, and now he’s a Vol.
The athletic wideout took an official visit to Knoxville for the weekend of January 17th, then took official visits to Oregon and Ole Miss the following weeks. Momentum seemed to be trending towards Ole Miss earlier this week, but Tennessee stole the show and got the four-star receiver as part of their 2020 class.
Tennessee could also use Wideman on the basketball court, but it remains to be seen if he’ll get an opportunity to play both sports.
Wideman is the perfect jump ball receiver. He has an insane vertical leap, and he has great hands. He’s tall, stronger than he looks, and has fantastic spatial awareness. He knows when to jump at the right time, and he fights off defensive backs to come down with the catch. Wideman has good speed to go along with his large frame, and he brings that athleticism from the basketball court over to the football field seamlessly. He just looks like the prototypical wide receiver.
On the football field, Wideman caught 65 passes for 1,064 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior, returning a punt for a touchdown as well according to MaxPreps. Wideman was named to the inaugural Sports Illustrated All-American Team for high school football for this past season. In basketball in the 2019 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League and the Peach Invitational, Wideman averaged 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.6 steals a game in 19.4 minutes a game in 13 games according to D1Circuit.com. He shot 48 percent overall and 38.7 percent from three. Wideman also won the City of Palms Classic dunk contest back in December.
With Wideman’s flip, Tennessee now has 23 recruits as part of their 2020 class. Wideman gives the Vols three projected wide receivers, with the other two being four-stars Jalin Hyatt and Jimmy Calloway. Four-star athlete Dee Beckwith will see time as a wideout to start out with UT as well.
