Vols hoping to get highly-touted safety on campus for Memorial Day weekend
Tennessee has long been after 2023 safety Dakaari Nelson.
Jeremy Pruitt’s regime offered the Selma, Ala. native initially and Josh Heupel and staff made him a point of emphasis when arriving on campus as well.
“We are pretty close. They were one of my first offers,” the four-star told Volquest. “When the new staff came in, they picked right up from where the old staff left off. They’ve been at the top of my board for a long time.”
Tim Banks stopped by his school a few weeks ago to check in and the defensive back hopes to be on campus at the end of the month for the Memorial Day Weekend premier event, but it’s not locked in at the moment. Regardless, he plans on taking an official visit to Tennessee either this summer or in the fall.
“Tennessee likes my versatility and how I cover. They like how I can come down in the box and how much grass I cover – my range,” Nelson said of the Vols staff. “They play in the SEC and that’s one of the best conferences in the nation. I love the energy of the fans there. I went to the basketball game, and I can only imagine how a football game would be.”
Nelson stopped by campus back in March for a Junior Day. Shortly thereafter, the safety placed the Vols among his top list of schools.
“He’s a calm guy – a cool, collected good guy. I’ve talked to him a lot,” Nelson said of Tennessee’s Josh Heupel. “What I’m going to be looking for when I get back up there - I want to see how the players feel about the school. If they were in my shoes, would they still pick Tennessee? I basically want to see how the relationship is with players and coaches.”
Along with the Volunteers, the ‘Final 6’ for Nelson has Clemson, Penn State, Oregon, Kentucky and Auburn making the cut. Penn State is the lone program who has an official visit already confirmed, and that will come on June 10.
In March, the Rivals 100 prospect stopped by Ole Miss and Florida State.
“I do plan on signing in the early signing period, but I haven’t made a commitment date just yet,” Nelson said. “I’ll make that decision the more and more I feel like a place is home. I’m not trying to get it done specifically before the season starts.”
The track star, who competes in the 200 and 400-meter dashes and the 4X100 and 4X400-meter relays, also plays basketball in the winter. Currently, the rising senior is going through spring practice at Selma High School with the spring game set to be played on May 21.
“This spring, I’m trying to increase my speed,” the athlete said. “There’s no such thing as being too fast. I’ve been working on my tackling as well.”
The four-star is pegged as the 78th player in the 2023 class, per Rivals. Nelson is rated as the fourth-best safety and the No. 10 player in the state of Alabama. The safety owns a Rivals Rating of 5.9.