I'm officially back from vacation, so it's time to compile our weekly Recruiting Blitz feature to quench the thirsty VandySports.com subscribers. Here we go...
- Vanderbilt's Friday Night Lights camp is slated for June 26th and the Commodores are expecting a very good group to be participating. A couple of attendees of note are local Harriman (Tn) offensive tackle Treyton Peters and Holly Springs (NC) running back Tray Staten, who has offers from UCLA and Virginia and is being recruited by safeties coach Marc Mattioli.
- Other targets that have confirmed they are attending FNL are Northridge (Ala.) defensive end Jalen Madden, Bishop Moore (Fla.) defensive tackle Josh Keeler, and West Orange (Fla.) defensive end Nolan DeFranco.
In case you missed it, Justin caught up with all three recently, which you can read at the links below:
Keeler planning to narrow list
Tuscaloosa DL names favorites
Florida DE ready for return trip to Nashville
- Another target that could potentially show up for FNL is 3-star California offensive tackle Sterling Strother. We say potentially because Strother has been a frequent visitor to Stanford this spring and summer and he will camp there on June 18th or 19th in hopes of earning a scholarship. The Stanford OL coach wants to see him and three others camp and plans to offer the top one or two from the group.
Here is more Strother in a recent article from CardinalSportsReport.com:
"We talked a lot about just kind of the general where I stand with them," Strother said. "He's continuing to be super honest about where I am with them in the process on their board and all that kind of stuff. He told me basically that he has four tackles including myself that he is very excited to have coming to camp on June 18th and 19th to look at. We're going to go through camp and then he'll look at film from camp and whatnot and then probably decide to offer the one or two best prospects from that group, whoever performs the best. And that if I get out there and really impress and show a lot of toughness and skill and strength, that i could be on the receiving end of one of those offers, that's a good possibility as long as I play to the best of my ability. So I'm really excited to be able to get out to camp and hopefully be able to earn a scholarship."
He currently has a walk-on offer from Stanford and he is a legacy there, with both of his parents being Cardinal alums. It will be interesting to see how things play out for Strother if he earns the offer.
- We've talked with Noxumbee Co. (Miss.) 3-star defensive end and Vanderbilt target Jeffrey Simmons recently and he told us he plans to visit Vanderbilt sometime this month or in early July. Simmons has offers from Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss. State, and others.
- Smyrna (Tn) 3-star safety Ikenna Okeke recently named a top 3 of Tennessee, Stanford, and Notre Dame and also intends to visit Louisville, Ohio State, Northwestern, Pitt, Southern Cal, and UCLA this summer. He just recently visited Vanderbilt a couple of weekends ago, so it will be interesting to see if the Commodores can make up some ground.
- Vandy QB commit Deuce Wallace will be competing at the inaugural Rivals Quarterback Challenge Finals this weekend in Baltimore. Wallace displayed his skills this past spring at the QB Challenge stop in Cincinnati and was also named QB MVP at the Rivals Camp stop in Louisiana a couple of years ago. The three-star prospect also turned some heads recently at the Elite 11 showcase in Columbus, Ohio - Deuce has definitely been doing some work.
- The freshmen are officially on campus and we've been told by a close source that Caleb Peart, Josh Smith, Justin Skule, and Darrion DeBrossard are the most impressive physically upon their arrivals.
- On the basketball front, Vanderbilt just recently offered 3-star 2016 small forward Wenyen Gabriel, he has drawn interest from the Commodores for quite a while before receiving an offer this week.
June is shaping up to be an important month for the Commodores as they are hoping to land some key visits from top targets like Carsen Edwards, Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier, Barret Benson, Braxton Blackwell, and others.
Vanderbilt is also starting to express a lot of interest in Matthew Freeman, a 6-foot-10, 2016 stretch power forward from New Zealand who was recently training in Colorado Springs for the FIBA U18 3-on-3 championships. He's mentioned in various interviews during his visit that the Commodores are recruiting him hard along with Tennessee, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, USC, and Stanford. He intends to be a December graduate.
Also, 2016 North Mecklenburg (NC) point guard Davion Mintz is planning to visit Vanderbilt this month as well. Mintz currently has 10 offers from the likes of Marshall, College of Charleston, Gardner Webb, Mercer, and others but has been getting noticed on the AAU circuit this summer with the Charlotte Nets. Mississippi State is another SEC program that is starting to show interest in Mintz, who told me he is really good friends with Matthew Fisher-Davis who has been telling him a lot about Vanderbilt.
- Vanderbilt's Friday Night Lights camp is slated for June 26th and the Commodores are expecting a very good group to be participating. A couple of attendees of note are local Harriman (Tn) offensive tackle Treyton Peters and Holly Springs (NC) running back Tray Staten, who has offers from UCLA and Virginia and is being recruited by safeties coach Marc Mattioli.
- Other targets that have confirmed they are attending FNL are Northridge (Ala.) defensive end Jalen Madden, Bishop Moore (Fla.) defensive tackle Josh Keeler, and West Orange (Fla.) defensive end Nolan DeFranco.
In case you missed it, Justin caught up with all three recently, which you can read at the links below:
Keeler planning to narrow list
Tuscaloosa DL names favorites
Florida DE ready for return trip to Nashville
- Another target that could potentially show up for FNL is 3-star California offensive tackle Sterling Strother. We say potentially because Strother has been a frequent visitor to Stanford this spring and summer and he will camp there on June 18th or 19th in hopes of earning a scholarship. The Stanford OL coach wants to see him and three others camp and plans to offer the top one or two from the group.
Here is more Strother in a recent article from CardinalSportsReport.com:
"We talked a lot about just kind of the general where I stand with them," Strother said. "He's continuing to be super honest about where I am with them in the process on their board and all that kind of stuff. He told me basically that he has four tackles including myself that he is very excited to have coming to camp on June 18th and 19th to look at. We're going to go through camp and then he'll look at film from camp and whatnot and then probably decide to offer the one or two best prospects from that group, whoever performs the best. And that if I get out there and really impress and show a lot of toughness and skill and strength, that i could be on the receiving end of one of those offers, that's a good possibility as long as I play to the best of my ability. So I'm really excited to be able to get out to camp and hopefully be able to earn a scholarship."
He currently has a walk-on offer from Stanford and he is a legacy there, with both of his parents being Cardinal alums. It will be interesting to see how things play out for Strother if he earns the offer.
- We've talked with Noxumbee Co. (Miss.) 3-star defensive end and Vanderbilt target Jeffrey Simmons recently and he told us he plans to visit Vanderbilt sometime this month or in early July. Simmons has offers from Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss. State, and others.
- Smyrna (Tn) 3-star safety Ikenna Okeke recently named a top 3 of Tennessee, Stanford, and Notre Dame and also intends to visit Louisville, Ohio State, Northwestern, Pitt, Southern Cal, and UCLA this summer. He just recently visited Vanderbilt a couple of weekends ago, so it will be interesting to see if the Commodores can make up some ground.
- Vandy QB commit Deuce Wallace will be competing at the inaugural Rivals Quarterback Challenge Finals this weekend in Baltimore. Wallace displayed his skills this past spring at the QB Challenge stop in Cincinnati and was also named QB MVP at the Rivals Camp stop in Louisiana a couple of years ago. The three-star prospect also turned some heads recently at the Elite 11 showcase in Columbus, Ohio - Deuce has definitely been doing some work.
- The freshmen are officially on campus and we've been told by a close source that Caleb Peart, Josh Smith, Justin Skule, and Darrion DeBrossard are the most impressive physically upon their arrivals.
- On the basketball front, Vanderbilt just recently offered 3-star 2016 small forward Wenyen Gabriel, he has drawn interest from the Commodores for quite a while before receiving an offer this week.
June is shaping up to be an important month for the Commodores as they are hoping to land some key visits from top targets like Carsen Edwards, Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier, Barret Benson, Braxton Blackwell, and others.
Vanderbilt is also starting to express a lot of interest in Matthew Freeman, a 6-foot-10, 2016 stretch power forward from New Zealand who was recently training in Colorado Springs for the FIBA U18 3-on-3 championships. He's mentioned in various interviews during his visit that the Commodores are recruiting him hard along with Tennessee, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, USC, and Stanford. He intends to be a December graduate.
Also, 2016 North Mecklenburg (NC) point guard Davion Mintz is planning to visit Vanderbilt this month as well. Mintz currently has 10 offers from the likes of Marshall, College of Charleston, Gardner Webb, Mercer, and others but has been getting noticed on the AAU circuit this summer with the Charlotte Nets. Mississippi State is another SEC program that is starting to show interest in Mintz, who told me he is really good friends with Matthew Fisher-Davis who has been telling him a lot about Vanderbilt.
