Four-star wide receiver and Tennessee target Kyler Kasper has officially committed to Oregon on Sunday afternoon. Tennessee was believed to be one of the final teams in Kasper’s recruitment, but after the announcement on Sunday, the Vols will now turn elsewhere on the recruiting trail.
“I’m home,” Kasper said in the tweet with a duck emoji.
I’m Home🦆 pic.twitter.com/GeIlsXNHIX
— Kyler Kasper (@KasperKyler) April 17, 2022
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Tennessee had been making major moves in terms of Kasper’s recruitment over the last month. After five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava committed to Tennessee back in March, he specifically called out both Kasper and five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate as players he was recruiting to Tennessee. Less than a month later, Tennessee was able to bring Iamaleava, Kasper, and Tate to Knoxville at the same time to visit during the Vols’ spring game.
According to On3 Sports’ Recruiting Prediction Machine on Saturday, Tennessee was the favorite to land Kasper at 66 percent, followed by Oregon at 34.1 percent.
Kasper’s father, Kevin Kasper, was a former wide receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Denver Broncos.
After failing to capture a commitment from four-star wide receiver Kyler Kasper, the Vols will now turn their attention to a few other high-level recruits in the class. The most notable is the other player that Iamaleava mentioned – Carnell Tate.
Prior to Iamaleava’s commitment to Tennessee, Tate was predicted to be a lock for Ohio State. However, Tennessee has been working hard to change the narrative. According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, Tennessee is now the favorite to land Tate at 54.8 percent, followed by Ohio State at 36.1 percent. Tate is a dynamic receiver who can absolutely still have a major impact on this Tennessee recruiting class.
In addition to Tate, the Vols are looking to pick up another talented prospect from the recruiting trail, this one being family already. Tennessee is targeting four-star wide receiver Devin Hyatt, the brother of current Vol wideout Jalin Hyatt.
Tate and Hyatt are both teammates at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
With Kyler Kasper committing to Oregon, the Vols still have a total of seven recruits committed to their 2023 class:
- 5-star QB Nico Iamaleava – Long Beach, CA
- 4-star TE Ethan Davis – Suwanee, GA
- 3-star ATH (DE) Trevor Duncan – Knoxville, TN
- 3-star EDGE Nathan Robinson – Greenbrier, TN
- 3-star OT Ayden Bussell – Mount Juliet, TN
- 3-star S Jack Luttrell – Moultrie, GA
- 3-star WR Nate Spillman – Nashville, TN
