There had been some discussion about whether or not three-star defensive lineman and Tennessee commit LeDarrius Cox would end up in UT’s 2019 class. But according to him, he intends to stick with his pledge to the Vols and sign with Tennessee.
In an interview with AL.com, Cox told Ben Thomas after the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game in Montgomery, Alabama that he will stay committed to the Vols and intends to sign with Tennessee in February, not the early signing period.
“I’m staying with Tennessee,” Cox told AL.com. “When I went on my visit there, it just felt like home.”
There had been speculation that Cox could be looking elsewhere and seemed to be getting a lot of buzz around Auburn. In fact, he had received three crystal ball predictions from three different recruiting analysts in August and October, and all three predicted Cox would end up at Auburn despite him being committed to the Vols since April. Steve Wiltfong, the Director of Recruiting for 247Sports, Demetric Warren, writer for the Ole Miss 247Sports site, and Keith Niebuhr, an Auburn Insider, all predicted Cox would flip to Auburn.
According to Cox, those crystal ball predictions will end up being wrong.
Things could certainly change between now and National Signing Day in February, but Tennessee is still where Cox intends to go to college as of now. It would appear that the only thing that would change those plans would be from Tennessee’s side, not Cox’s.
According to the 247Sports Composite ranking, Cox is the No. 586 overall player and the No. 38 defensive tackle in the 2019 class. He holds offers from Auburn, Georgia, Oregon, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and others.
Cox played for McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama, and the 6-foot-4, 305-pound defensive lineman helped his team earn a 9-3 record this past season. Cox totaled 42 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and five sacks as a senior.
The three-star lineman hasn’t visited Tennessee officially and last took an unofficial trip to Knoxville when he attended a camp in late June. He’s scheduled to take an official visit to Ole Miss in January, but he still hasn’t planned one to Tennessee.
Tennessee currently has commitments from six projected defensive linemen in their 2019 class. Cox and three-star defensive end Jalil Clemons are the only two of those six linemen who aren’t expected to sign with UT during the early signing period this week.
