Vols transfer addition wanted to play at Tennessee as a recruit but he says Jeremy Pruitt told him he'd never play in the SEC
One of the Tennessee Vols' biggest transfer portal wins this offseason was the addition of safety Jakobe Thomas to the roster. Thomas, who is from Tullahoma, TN transferred to Tennessee from Middle Tennessee State this past December. The former three-star recruit signed with Middle Tennessee State during the 2021 recruiting cycle. Thomas totaled 108 tackles […]
One of the Tennessee Vols' biggest transfer portal wins this offseason was the addition of safety Jakobe Thomas to the roster.
Thomas, who is from Tullahoma, TN transferred to Tennessee from Middle Tennessee State this past December.
The former three-star recruit signed with Middle Tennessee State during the 2021 recruiting cycle. Thomas totaled 108 tackles and four interceptions over the last two seasons at MTSU.
Thomas initially committed to Oregon State as a transfer, but he opted to stay closer to home and switched his commitment to Tennessee a couple of days later.
The Tennessee native recently joined The Players Lounge Tennessee and he revealed that he wanted to play for the Vols coming out of high school.
But Jeremy Pruitt, who was Tennessee's head coach at the time, apparently told Thomas that he wasn't SEC material.
"Getting the chance to wear the orange and white as a Tennessee kid, it's different for me," said Thomas.
"I wanted to be here (out of high school), but Coach Pruitt told me I was never going to be able to play SEC ball," continued Thomas.
In Pruitt's defense, there were a lot of coaches around the nation that missed on their evaluation of Thomas.
Ultimately, it all worked out for Thomas. He's now at Tennessee, where he always wanted to be. And he'll be playing under Josh Heupel, a coach that Thomas has lot of love for.
"I love Coach Heupel," said Thomas. "He's a real family coach, it's not like we're players to him."
Oddly enough, if Pruitt would have signed Thomas during the 2021 recruiting cycle, Thomas would've ended up playing for Heupel as a true freshman due to the recruiting scandal that cost Pruitt his job at Tennessee.
Funny how things work out sometimes.
