Four-star receiver Mazeo Bennet de-committed from Tennessee Thursday night after spending nearly two months as a Vols commit.
“With the recent changes in the coaching staff, me and my family have decided to take a step back and re-evaluate Tennessee and others,” Bennett wrote in a statement he tweeted. “Tennessee will still be one of my top schools. It hurts to say but I will be decommitting from the University of Tennessee, and re-opening my recruitment.”
The high school junior receiver’s de-commitment comes less than a week after Vols’ offensive coordinator Alex Golesh left to become the new head coach at South Florida. Golesh is the only Tennessee coach to leave Knoxville this offseason but the former Vols’ coordinator clearly had a strong relationship with the blue chip receiver.
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Bennett ranks as the No. 214 player and No. 31 receiver in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. The 5-foot-11 receiver committed to Tennessee on Oct. 18, a day after the Vols knocked off No. 3 Alabama at Neyland Stadium.
The Greeneville, South Carolina native committed to Tennessee over Florida State, Georgia and home state South Carolina. One 247sports recruiting expert put in a crystal ball prediction for Bennett to commit to the Gamecocks Thursday night following his de-commitment.
Tennessee has just three players committed in its 2024 recruiting class following Bennett’s de-commitment. Five-star athlete Jonathan Echols joins Volunteer State natives Kaleb Beasley and Carson Gentle as the three members of the nation’s No. 11 recruiting class.
Josh Heupel and his staff are in the process of putting the final bow on Tennessee’s class of 2023 recruiting class. The Vols’ recruiting class is waffling around the top 10 in recruiting rankings less than two weeks from the start of the early signing period.
