Terrion Arnold is one of the top safeties in the 2021 recruiting cycle. The Tallahassee, Florida defensive back has been on Tennessee’s radar in football for a while, as the Vols’ coaching staff offered him back in October of last year.
Now, Arnold has picked up an offer from Tennessee’s men’s basketball program, too.
Arnold tweeted out on Wednesday that the Vols had extended an offer to him in basketball as well as football. Tennessee is the fourth SEC school to offer Arnold in both football and basketball, joining Alabama, Florida, and Ole Miss as teams having done so.
After a great conversation with @Englishscope24 I am Truly blessed & Honored to receive an Basketball ⭕️ffer From The University Of Tennenssee ?? #RockyTop pic.twitter.com/TxiO7fD9ya
— Terrion Arnold (@ArnoldTerrion) June 17, 2020
While Arnold isn’t rated as a basketball prospect on 247Sports, he’s ranked as one of the top safeties in the country in football. The regular 247Sports rankings have Arnold at No. 86 overall and No. 2 among safeties while the composite has Arnold ranked 186th overall and No. 9 at safety. The 6-foot-2, 187-pound defensive back plays for John Paul II Catholic in Tallahassee and holds nearly four dozen scholarship offers. Teams like Alabama, Florida, LSU, Florida State, Auburn, Georgia, Miami, Oklahoma, and Texas have all offered Arnold.
In football, Arnold was named the FACA District 3 Player of the Year in 2A for his junior season after totaling 108 tackles, an interception, a sack, and over 1,300 all-purpose yards.
As far as his skill as a basketball player, Arnold helped John Paul II Catholic win a district title while averaging 8.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.2 steals a game in 24 contests according to MaxPreps.
On the football field, Arnold is a tackling machine who does a good job wrapping up and dishing out some big hits, too. He’s very physical and plays very quickly across the field. He’s capable of playing safety or corner either one, and he’s a solid mutli-purpose athlete. In basketball, Arnold is excellent at penetrating into the paint and scoring inside. He can also sky for dunks. Arnold’s defense is good, and he’s a better shot blocker than you’d expect from a 6-foot-2 guard, and he plays good on-ball defense as well.
Tennessee is pursuing a handful of multi-sport athletes in the 2021 cycle, and several of the Vols’ current 2021 commits play multiple sports in high school. It’s not hard to imagine that Tennessee will be making a similar pitch to Arnold that they did with Malachi Wideman and Dee Beckwith in the 2020 cycle.
Wideman was a four-star in both football and basketball on 247Sports, and Beckwith held offers from a number of Division I basketball programs before signing with UT. Both athletes are expected to get a chance to play both football and basketball at Tennessee.
