As Tennessee begins to look at the wide receiver position for next year’s 2024 cycle, MJ Bennett will be one of the first names on the board. The talented 6-foot, 170-pound play-maker checked out Tennessee on Saturday and left feeling good about the Vols.
“The visit today was amazing,” the four-star said. “The culture they have in this building is great. The staff went over the culture and trust between the players and coaches – that was really amazing.”
Back in May, Bennett attended Tennessee’s Rocky Topalooza right before the June camp season began. It was his first time on campus – but he knew it wouldn’t be his last. Not for a long shot.
“I wanted to come back here because of the way they’ve been recruiting me,” the wideout said. “They wanted to me to get back up here and I could definitely feel that. It was a no-brainer to come back up here.”
Position coach Kelsey Pope has taken the reigns in this one. The first-year on-the-field instructor is doing well with Bennett in the recruiting game and Saturday further solidified that.
“I like how real he is with me. He told me that I’m one of his top-guys and I actually believe him,” the Greeneville, S.C. naïve said. “The way he told me how he told me he could use me on the field and how I fit in this offense – I really loved it.
“I’m a lengthy guy who can play both inside and outside. I’m versatile and they really like that.”
But it’s not all about football for the 244th-ranked prospect in the country, per Rivals. Bennett has dreams and aspirations in the classrooms as well and feels good about what he’d be getting here at Tennessee if he ends up choosing the Volunteers.
“I want to go into either business or engineering. I feel like Tennessee has the perfect business program I could get into,” the prospect said. “I feel like having those academic studies here puts me in the best position for me to find success. I feel like having those places and resources, you can’t go wrong with trying to get a good major here.”
And a big reason Tennessee is siting well with the 2024 wide receiver right now – it’s because of Josh Heupel. But not all of it is necessary centered around football.
“I like coach Heupel. He is a real cool guy and I feel like we could talk about anything,” Bennett told Volquest. “He embraces the major I want to go in. A lot coaches try to shy you away from the harder majors because they know it will be hard and you’re trying to play college football. He embraces it and he wants me to do that.”
Bennett will be trying to get back up to Knoxville this fall, likely for the Alabama game in October. Proximity to home in Greeneville, S.C. won’t be a factor in his recruitment, a process that doesn’t have a clear timeline at the moment. There’s no rush.
But Tennessee is sitting in a good spot for now.
“Whoever I feel like loves me the most is where I want to be,” the prospect concluded. “Tennessee is one of the top-schools on my list. I went to South Carolina recently – they are up there as well. Miami and North Carolina and schools like that are near the top.”
Bennett, who owns a Rivals Rating of 5.8, is considered the third-best prospect in South Carolina and the 35th at the wide receiver position. Again, the Tennessee target is a Rivals Top250 prospect for the 2024 cycle.
