Tennessee tight end target Roger Saleapaga is set to announce his collegiate commitment this Friday night, according to a report from 247 Sports’ Blair Angulo.
Angulo’s report on Monday stated that Saleapaga is down to five schools after taking a visit to Auburn this past weekend for the Iron Bowl.
Saleapaga’s top five reportedly includes Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah.
Saleapaga is a three-star tight end according to 247 Sports, On3 Sports, and ESPN’s recruiting services while Rivals has him ranked as a four-star prospect. 247 Sports’ composite rankings have Saleapaga listed as a four-star prospect, the No. 25 tight end in the class, and the No. 4 player from the state of Utah. Saleapaga is an impressive pass-catching tight end who has a knack for finding the endzone.
The class of 2024 prospect currently plays for Orem High School in Orem, Utah.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect has more than 20 scholarship offers and has taken an official visit to all of his top five schools excluding Alabama, according to 247.
Saleapaga would be a huge player for Tennessee to land and bolster the depth in Alec Abeln’s tight ends room. The Vols are losing Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles this offseason which leaves the tight end’s room fairly bare heading into next season.
Tennessee has a pair of freshmen with Ethan Davis and Emmanuel Okoye but also has a commitment from two-way tight end/EDGE rusher Jonathan Echols from the 2024 recruiting class.
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The experts are projecting an uphill battle in the final few days for Tennessee to land the class of 2024 tight end, though, as Saleapaga’s two Crystal Ball predictions from 247 Sports both point in the direction of Oregon. The Ducks also lead On3 Sports’s Recruiting Prediction Machine projections at 93.3 percent, followed by Tennessee at 1.8 percent.
Saleapaga was in Knoxville in November for Tennessee’s game against Georgia. The tight-end prospect told VolQuest’s Matt Ray after the visit that he sees himself potentially helping Tennessee in the pass-catching area on the field with Tennessee being short on depth in the tight end’s room. Saleapaga also said that he spent time with tight end’s coach Alec Abeln, head coach Josh Heupel, quarterback Nico Iamaleava, tight end Ethan Davis, and more players from the Tennessee roster.
Roger Saleapaga is set to announce his college commitment this Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET, according to the report from Angulo.
Check out some of Saleapaga’s highlights below:
