Five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate has officially announced that he is committing to Ohio State over Tennessee, LSU, and Notre Dame. Tate’s announcement came in the form of a two-minute video on Instagram.
“I will be taking my talents to the Ohio State University,” Tate said in the Instagram post. “Go Buckeyes.”
Tate’s commitment to Ohio State comes after a spring in which Tennessee gave their best effort for the elite wide receiver. One year ago, leading into Josh Heupel’s first season in Knoxville, Tennessee wasn’t even in the conversation for Tate.
Tate announced a Top 5 consisting of Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, and Tennessee in mid-March. At that point in time, On3 Sports’ Recruiting Prediction Machine gave Ohio State a 94.7 percent chance to land Tate. One month later, after Tennessee had put in a considerable amount of work, the Buckeye’s projection had fallen to just 31.3 percent.
One of the most significant reasons why Tate had an interest in Tennessee was due to five-star quarterback commit Nico Iamaleava. In late March, after Iamaleava made his commitment to Tennessee, the California native dropped two names – Carnell Tate and Kyler Kasper – as players that he was going to try to get to Knoxville.
In April, Kasper committed to Oregon over Tennessee. And now, as of Monday, Carnell Tate has committed to Ohio State.
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Carnell Tate is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound receiver from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida by way of Chicago, Illinois. According to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, Tate is listed as the No. 3 wide receiver in the class of 2023, the No. 7 prospect from the state of Florida, and the No. 28 overall prospect in the class.
With all the hype that has been surrounding Tennessee this spring, Tate’s commitment to Ohio State on the heels of Kasper’s commitment to Oregon does come as a bit of a disappointment. By no means is it the end of the world considering it’s only June, but nonetheless, a disappointment when factoring in the momentum that Tennessee was building when it came to high-profile names.
Despite that, though, the fact that Tennessee was in so deep for both Kasper and Tate does show the upward direction that recruiting is trending on Rocky Top. While patience can sometimes be a hard thing to find in Knoxville, Heupel and his staff are already competing in high-profile recruiting battles across the country before even lining up for year two on the field. Tennessee beat everyone out for Nico Iamaleava, the third-ranked quarterback in the class, and has been one of the final teams for a number of recruits this spring.
With the calendar not even turning to July yet, there is still a whole lot of time before the early signing period comes this December. Not to mention, the Vols will still be targeting quality receivers in the class such as four-star Devin Hyatt, a teammate of Carnell Tate’s at IMG and the brother of current Vol wideout Jalin Hyatt.
With Carnell Tate committing to Ohio State, the Vols remain at 10 total commitments currently for the class of 2023. Tennessee’s recruiting rankings and full commitments list can be found here.
Tate’s full commitment video from Monday can be found below.
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