Recent offer draws more interest and return trip for 2021 RB Chavion Smith
As Tennessee moves on in the rebuilding process under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt, spotting under-the-radar talent early on will be a must in the recruiting game.
Chavion Smith, a running back out of Statesville High School in North Carolina, is off to a solid start to his junior campaign. The Class of 2021 prospect is already over 500 yards on the ground with nine touchdowns through six games.
Classified as an athlete, Smith has seen time on defense at middle linebacker. Smith’s Coach, Randall Gusler – a graduate of the University of Tennessee -prefers to keep the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Smith on offense, however that’s based on the situation as the team is currently undefeated on the season.
The Tar Heel State prospect does not have a star rating as of now, but that could soon change over the offseason when Smith takes part in a number of camps leading into his senior season.
Tennessee joined fellow Southeastern Conference foe Kentucky in offering Smith before the BYU game. Akron and Southern Miss have also extended an offer.
Smith noted he would prefer to play in the SEC.
“I haven’t really been inside their school. I only went for a camp and that was my freshman year,” Smith said of Kentucky. “Tennessee has shown a lot of interest. I keep in touch with the coaches often and I’ll be down there next weekend when they play Georgia.”
The trip will serve as an un-official visit for the junior, as Smith makes his second trip to Rocky Top early in this 2019 season. He raved about the fan base and atmosphere inside Neyland Stadium.
“I really liked the love the fans gave to the players, even though they might not have played as good of a game. They are still just diehard fans.”
Danny Stiff, Assistant Director of Player Development at Tennessee, garnered praise from Smith when talking about the Vols and the running back has spoken with Pruitt recently during his trip to Knoxville.
“Their atmosphere and the way they treat their players is something I’d love to be around,” Smith said. “I feel like he’s [Pruitt] a great guy and he sticks to what he says. He’s a hard working coach.”
The Statesville High School standout has a lot of high school football remaining and a busy offseason of visits ahead of him. Despite having only four offers at the moment, other programs such as Miami, Clemson, North Carolina State, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Appalachian State are showing interest.
There’s no rush for Smith in the recruiting process. The junior has inkling, but will make the call on his terms.
“I want to do it [commit] when I feel the time is right. I don’t want to rush it because I’m still going through some decisions. But I think I have my choice.”
Smith and his teammates have an off date coming up before squaring off against South Iredell on October 11. During the downtime, the 2021 prospect looks forward to taking in a game at Neyland Stadium when Georgia comes to Rocky Top this coming weekend.