Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is making sure all bases are covered in Justin Hopkins’ recruitment. So much so that Heupel visited Hopkins twice on Thursday.
Heupel visited Hopkins on Thursday morning then returned to watch the four-star prospect play basketball later that evening. It seems the Vols are in good position to land a top-flight defensive back, which is getting easier than it was previously.
Let’s be frank. I’m not sure that Tennessee would have had any chance whatsoever to land a top cornerback before last season. The Vols just had no track record of success with defensive backs under Heupel. Times change.
Other than Alontae Taylor, who Tennessee coach Josh Heupel inherited, the Vols haven’t had anything to brag about in the secondary until last season. Now, Tennessee’s coaches have something to show high school prospects who want to play defensive back in college and do so at a high level.
Fact: Defensive backs can excel as Volunteers.
That fact has surely resonated with Hopkins, a four-star cornerback from Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn., that is firmly on the Vols’ radar. Things went quite well – as they should for the Vols in the mid-state area.
There isn’t any reason that the Vols shouldn’t have their pick of the litter in the Music City, which is busting at the seams with population growth, which leads to more high-level high school prospects. Hopkins, who was offered a scholarship in April, announced his top 12 schools during the holiday break, which included Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.
As strange as it may seem, the Commodores may be a real threat for the Vols in recruiting the mid-state area given the private school’s recent resurgence. Vanderbilt finished the 2024 season 7-6 after a Birmingham Bowl win over Georgia Tech following a season in which the Commodores beat No. 1 Alabama in one of the most memorable moments of last season. Nevertheless, it’s clear Tennessee is in far better standing than the majority of the schools that Hopkins listed and probably ahead of Vandy despite its recent success.
Tennessee already has three players on its roster from Ensworth: senior defensive backs William Wright and Andre Turrentine and linebacker Grier Short. While that isn’t a star-studded trio, Wright’s spot on UT’s roster is significant as Hopkins recently told 247Sports that he considers Wright a “big brother.” That’s just one of the ties Hopkins has to Tennessee.
Looking for another? You don’t have to look far. Tennessee signed four-star cornerback Kaleb Beasley as part of the 2024 class. He has certainly been extolling the virtues of the Vols after his first season at UT – and why shouldn’t he?
Tennessee produced two high-level cornerbacks last season and a handful of good safeties after Knoxville looked like the city where defensive backs went to struggle during Heupel’s first three seasons as head coach. After last season, Tennessee looks like a great place to excel in the secondary. The Vols, who ranked last in pass defense in the SEC in 2021, fielded the fifth-best pass defense last season.
Hopkins, who is 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, is ranked as the 266th best prospect in the nation, the 18th best cornerback in the country and the ninth best prospect in Tennessee.
Also a basketball standout, Hopkins caught 42 passes for 705 yards with no recorded drops last season for Ensworth. On defense, he registered registered 16 tackles, two for a loss, seven passes broken up and two interceptions despite the fact that opposing offenses learned quickly not to throw his way.
Prediction: Hopkins commits to Tennessee during a summer camp in Knoxville
