Tennessee has started making more inroads into the Carolinas in recruiting. Both North and South Carolina have been focuses of UT’s coaching staff, and they found a gem from South Carolina last year when they added Bryce Thompson late in their 2018 signing class. Thompson went on to have an exceptional debut season and has been named a freshman All-SEC and freshman All-American performer by various outlets.
Now, the Vols are hoping one of Thompson’s former teammates in high school will join him at UT.
The Vols sent out an offer to Jalin Hyatt, a wide receiver who plays for Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina. Dutch Fork is where Thompson played, and both he and Hyatt played together for a couple years there.
Thankful to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee! #GBO pic.twitter.com/c5AEOTtAvQ
— Jalin Hyatt (@jalinhyatt) January 11, 2019
Thompson wasted little time in replying to Hyatt’s tweet, claiming that he “shouldn’t even have to say nothing” to Hyatt about coming to Tennessee.
man shouldn’t even have to say nothin to you …Go ahead make that move ? https://t.co/gWGU5A8fpn
— Bryce Thompson (@thommybry) January 12, 2019
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Hyatt is the No. 529 overall player and the No. 9 player in the state of South Carolina. He just picked up an offer from Penn State this past week as well, and he also holds offers from Michigan, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Virginia, Duke, and others.
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The 6-foot-2, 165-pound receiver is a little thin, but he plays like a bigger receiver while also using his speed to separate himself from defenders.
Hyatt is a very good route runner, especially for a high school junior. He can run fade routes, post routes, digs, comeback routes, and he’s dangerous in the red zone in the corner of the end zone. He knows how to make catches in traffic and shows good body control. Hyatt also has very good speed and uses that to his advantage a lot. He won’t be able to make defenders look as silly in college as he does in high school with his speed, but he does have game-changing speed from the receiver position.
Not only does Hyatt stand out on film, but his numbers are also very impressive. In 13 games as a junior, Hyatt caught 71 passes for 1,316 yards and 21 touchdowns according to MaxPreps. In his last two seasons with Dutch Fork, Hyatt has 114 receptions for 2,263 yards and 31 scores.
Hyatt also has very good measureables. He’s been timed running a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, has been recorded running a 4.18-second shuttle, and has a 39-inch vertical.
Bryce Thompson’s relationship with Hyatt and the fact that Thompson had a great freshman year should help the Vols immensely with Hyatt. He has his tweet about Tennessee’s offer pinned to his Twitter profile right now. Hyatt has unofficially visited Clemson multiple times, but he’s yet to receive an offer from them. It’ll be interesting to see if the Tigers get more involved now that Tennessee has offered him.
