Tennessee Vols working to keep in-state recruit from heading to the west coast

The Tennessee Vols are reportedly working to flip a key in-state recruit who committed to the USC Trojans in early April.  2025 three-star athlete Daune Morris, 5-foot-10/193 lbs from Murfreesboro, TN, committed to USC on April 7. But it appears he's reconsidering his commitment as he's expected to take a visit to Tennessee this week […]

Zach Ragan Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Tennessee Vols are reportedly working to flip a key in-state recruit who committed to the USC Trojans in early April. 

2025 three-star athlete Daune Morris, 5-foot-10/193 lbs from Murfreesboro, TN, committed to USC on April 7. But it appears he's reconsidering his commitment as he's expected to take a visit to Tennessee this week (2025 five-star Vols quarterback commit George MacIntyre will also be at Tennessee this week for a visit). 

"USC commit Daune Morris is also expected (at Tennessee for a visit). Morris has been a verbal to the Trojans since April but the Vols are in the thick of that one as well," noted On3's Steve Wilftong on Monday

Morris is rated by On3 as the No. 19 player in the state of Tennessee and the No. 25 athlete in the nation. 

While he's listed as a running back, Morris is being recruited by USC and Tennessee as a running back. The Vols currently have just one running back committed to their 2025 recruiting class (three-star running back Justin Baker). Their pursuit of Morris indicates that Josh Heupel and his staff are eager to add a second running back to the Vols' 2025 class. 

Tennessee is also working to flip a couple of other 2025 commits, including four-star linebacker Jadon Perlotte (a Georgia commit) and four-star tight end DaSaahn Brame (an Oregon commit). 

It's shaping up to an extremely strong finish to the 2025 recruiting cycle for the Vols. If Tennessee can close the deal with several of their top remaining targets (including five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr), the Vols could realistically finish with a top five to top eight recruiting class.