One of Tennessee’s top in-state commits in their 2020 class has already announced that his recruitment is completely closed. Now another one of UT’s commits from inside their own state borders is shutting down his recruitment, too.
Four-star linebacker Martavius French of Whitehaven High School in Memphis posted to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon that his recruitment is “100 percent shutdown” moving forward. French and his teammates Bryson Eason and Tamarion McDonald all committed to the Vols on the same night on October 22nd.
Recruitment 100 percent shutdown! #GBO?
— F R E N C H I E (@ypcjuice2) December 11, 2019
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker was part of a Whitehaven defense that shut out seven of their 12 opponents on the season and only gave up an average of 5.4 points per game.
French is rated as the No. 331 overall prospect, No. 14 inside linebacker, and No. 10 recruit in the state of Tennessee in the 2020 class. At one point, French was committed to Arkansas, announcing his pledge to the Razorbacks on July 23rd of this year. But once the Vols started to turn up the heat on him and his two other talented teammates, French decided to decommit, announcing he was backing off his commitment to Arkansas on October 20th.
Two days later, French committed to the Vols.
French committed along with his teammates, fellow four-star linebacker Bryson Eason and three-star defender Tamarion McDonald, all within a couple hours of each other late in the night of October 22nd. The “Whitehaven Trio,” as they’ve come to be called, are one of two groups of teammates committed to the Vols in the 2020 cycle. This week, both four-star defensive tackle Omari Thomas and three-star all-purpose back Jabari Small of Briarcrest Christian committed to Tennessee as well. All five of those prospects hail from Memphis.
Last week, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt, running backs coach and Memphis area recruiter David Johnson, and defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley all paid French, Eason, and McDonald in-home visits.
Tennessee has 18 current commits in their 2020 class, and 10 of those commits are in-state prospects.
The early signing period for the 2020 recruiting cycle begins on December 18th and runs through December 20th.
