This weekend is the last weekend recruits can visit schools before the early signing period. This year’s early signing period begins on December 19th and runs through the 21st, and this upcoming weekend is when a lot of schools have a lot of big time players coming in for one last chance at persuading prospects before they sign early.
For the Vols, this weekend will have a lot of 2019 commits showing up to Knoxville. And one of them is bringing along his talented teammate on an official visit.
Three-star offensive tackle and Tennessee commit Chris Akporoghene tweeted out on Monday night that his teammate down in IMG Academy, four-star running back Noah Cain, will be taking an official visit to Tennessee this weekend.
Vol nation! we need to get my boy @therealnoahcain committed this weekend…He taking his official visit this weekend #VFL ?? pic.twitter.com/4kGD4KDqET
— Chris Akporoghene Jr. ???? (@yomzking) December 11, 2018
Cain is rated as the No. 104 overall player and No. 7 running back in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He transferred to IMG Academy before his junior year, and he’s split time with five-star and No. 1 overall running back Trey Sanders while there. Cain topped 1,000 rushing yards as a freshman and sophomore for Guyer High School before transferring to IMG.
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The 5-foot-10, 212-pound running back is planning on signing during the early signing period. That means the Vols will be getting his final visit heading into his announcement date.
Cain hasn’t visited Tennessee’s campus any time recently, but he’s taken an official visit to Georgia, Penn State, Texas, and Auburn already.
Cain has been timed running a 4.41-second 40-yard dash, and he’s reportedly finished the shuttle in 4.15 seconds. He has a 32-inch vertical and can bench press 315 pounds. He was invited to Nike’s The Opening Finals and to the Under Armour All-American Game.
The talented running back has some elite level speed, but he’s not just a scat back; he has a surprising amount of power too. While he’s very elusive, he can also break tackles and fight through defenders just as effectively as he can evade them. He’s an asset in the passing game too, and he uses his great vision and quickness to become a dangerous pass catcher. His junior year highlight film also shows him blocking in the passing game, and that’s rare from high school running backs. That’s always the toughest thing for running backs to learn heading into college, and it consistently keeps younger backs from more playing time as freshmen. The fact that Cain can already do that fairly effectively shows how much further along he is than most incoming freshmen backs.
December 19th, I’m going to write back at em, let em know who with me…✍? #7era pic.twitter.com/MMI7cp2ita
— Noah Cain (@therealnoahcain) November 16, 2018
As a senior, Cain split time with Trey Sanders but still managed to total 461 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 72 attempts while also catching 12 passes for 230 yards and a score according to MaxPreps. He and Sanders combined to rush for 931 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 140 carries in eight recorded games.
Tennessee doesn’t have a true running back committed to them in their 2019 class right now. They’re currently pursuing a few players at the position, most notably four-star in-state running back Eric Gray.
