Tennessee and Ohio State are in the early stages of another 5-star recruiting battle at a high school that’s familiar to the Vols
It seems like the Tennessee Vols and the Ohio State Buckeyes are always fighting over a five-star recruit.
The Tennessee Vols and the Ohio State Buckeyes are on a collision course for another five-star recruiting battle.
This time it’s 2028 five-star wide receiver Braylon Clark out of Charlotte, NC.
Tennessee and Ohio State have become frequent rivals on the recruiting trail, competing for the nation’s top prospects almost every cycle. Now both programs are in the mix for Clark, a 6-foot-3/185-pound wide receiver who is rated by Rivals as the No. 3 wide receiver in the nation and No. 6 overall player in the 2028 recruiting class.
Clark looks the part of a future superstar, and he’s only going to be a junior this coming season.
It seems like every year the Vols and the Buckeyes find themselves locked in on the same elite talent. Tennessee beat out Ohio State for 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges earlier this summer. The Vols also landed five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr over Ohio State during the 2025 cycle.
Ohio State has won its fair share of these battles, too. The Buckeyes landed superstar wide receiver Carnell Tate over Tennessee in the 2023 cycle, and everyone remembers the Vonn Bell fiasco on signing day in 2013.
Ohio State holds the early edge, but Tennessee is pushing
According to Rivals, Ohio State has positioned itself as the early favorite for Clark. The Buckeyes were the only school Clark visited this summer. Tennessee, though, is working to move up his list. Oregon and Auburn are also in the mix.
It’s still early in this battle, so there’s plenty of time for things to change. I think Tennessee is going to be very much in the mix here thanks to wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope, who has developed into one of the top recruiters in the nation.
Interestingly, Clark attends Providence Day in Charlotte, the same school Sanders attended. The two were never teammates there, however. Clark transferred to Providence Day for the 2027 season after previously attending Charlotte Country Day.
Tennessee has made North Carolina one of its top recruiting grounds under Josh Heupel, so I think they’ll be aggressive here. I would expect them to push hard for Clark over the coming months.
We’ll see if Tennessee can pull off the magic for the second straight recruiting cycle and beat out the Buckeyes for another five-star prospect. There’s still a long to go, though, in this battle.
