Third time’s a charm?
Four-star defensive back Kamar Wilcoxson committed to Tennessee back on April 27th, a day after the Vols landed then-five-star defensive end Dylan Brooks. Those two commitments sparked a strong run for the Vols in the 2021 class over the next month, as UT picked up over a dozen commitments in that span.
But on Friday, Wilcoxson went back on that commitment.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back from IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL announced on Twitter that he was flipping his commitment from the Vols to the Florida Gators, committing to Florida for a third time in his recruitment. He had committed and decomitted to the Gators twice previously before committing to Tennessee.
In his tweet, Wilcoxson said his decision was “business over emotion” and went on to say the University of Florida is where he’s “dreamed of playing at since I was a kid.” Wilcoxson added that he’s “here to stay” and is “committed to the University of Florida for good.”
“My recruitment is officially over,” Wilcoxson wrote. “I appreciate all the coaches who have recruited me up to this point. I’m firm with my decision. I will cut off all communication with other schools.”
Business over emotion, imma Gator stop the commotion ♾ . . .
Gator nation, let’s ride . . . ?? pic.twitter.com/mrnLpAiKE4
— ? (@KamarWilcoxson4) June 19, 2020
Wilcoxson is rated as the No. 275 overall prospect, No. 16 safety, and No. 41 recruit in the state of Florida in the 2021 class per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Back in May, Wilcoxson spoke with RTI about his commitment to the Vols and said, at the time, that he was wanting to build an “epic class” at Tennessee with him.
“I’m a big thinker. When I’m up late at night, I think about my future and stuff like that,” Wilcoxson said. “So probably around March, I really started locking in on what was best for me and my future because I know wherever I wanted to go, I wanted to build an epic class around me. I started checking the track record of coaches, and I looked at Coach Pruitt’s, and I was like, ‘dang, Coach Pruitt is really an elite defensive back coach on top of being an elite talent evaluator.’ It’s the same with (defensive coordinator) Coach Ansley.
“Honestly, I got a steal being able to play for both of them and being able to make contributions early. And on top of that, Tennessee is a good school when it comes to academic support, the environment I’ll be living in, the fanbase support, building my brand, and all type of stuff. I really got the best of everything. Now, I’m just trying to explain to other guys that they can go look at what Coach Pruitt has done. He knows how to win, he just needs the players he had in the past to go win now.”
With Wilcoxson’s decommitment, Tennessee’s 2021 class slips to No. 3 in the 2021 cycle but stays at No. 1 in the SEC. The Vols still have a number of projected defensive backs committed to them in this class as well. Three-star safety De’Shawn Rucker, three-star safety Edwin White, and three-star cornerback Jay Jones are all still committed to the Vols. Four-star athlete Kaemen Marley is capable of playing in the secondary as well.
Tennessee is also still targeting a number of talented defensive backs, including four-star cornerback Isaiah Johnson, four-star cornerback Nyland Green, and four-star safety Terrion Arnold among others.
