Receiver Amari Jefferson have been connected long before the Alabama transfer committed to Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon. Josh Heupel and the Vols recruited Jefferson hard out of high school before he eventually committed to play for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
But before Jefferson was an Alabama football commit, he was a Tennessee baseball commit for over a year. The right-handed outfielder ranked as a top 300 player nationally and as the No. 6 player in the state of Tennessee in the 2024 recruiting cycle according to Perfect Game.
So could Jefferson play baseball at Tennessee as well as football?
There is mutual interest between Tennessee baseball’s coaching staff and Jefferson, a source inside the Volunteer baseball program told RTI on Tuesday. But there’s also still a number of moving pieces and uncertainty.
Playing both sports is a major challenge at the college level due in part because of the important of football’s spring practice and even more so because of baseball’s fall practice. Those practice periods overlapping with the other sport’s regular season makes it difficult.
The other key element for Jefferson is that he is still recovering from the injury that sidelined him for the entirety of his freshman football season at Alabama.
More From RTI: Former Tennessee Receiver Commits To Big 10 School After Entering Transfer Portal
Tennessee baseball players are arriving back on campus this week before the start of the spring semester as the defending National Champions near the start of preseason practice and are just over a month away from the start of the 2025 season.
Combine that if Jefferson’s injury and the fact Tennessee has a very talented team returning and it seems unlikely that the 6-foot-3 transfer would make a major impact on the Vol baseball team in 2025.
Tennessee football also is dependent on Jefferson competing for playing time at receiver next season. The Vols lost five receivers to the transfer portal earlier this offseason and return just two receivers in their two-deep from a season ago.
At the moment, Jefferson is Tennessee football’s only incoming transfer receiver and will have the opportunity to earn a major role in his redshirt freshman season.
Tennessee has not had a two-sport player under baseball coach Tony Vitello or football coach Josh Heupel. Former Tennessee safety Trevon Flowers talked about also playing center field in college but that never came to fruition.
There’s circumstances that will make it a challenge for Jefferson to play both sports for Tennessee but it is currently an option that both sides are exploring.
