With June prospect camps officially underway, highly-touted recruits will now be making their way to Knoxville for a chance to compete in front of the Volunteer coaching staff.
Some are looking for an offer while others, who are firmly entrenched on the Big Orange hot board, are seeking an opportunity to learn and mingle with members of the staff. The top-overall prospect in the state of Tennessee for the 2024 class – Kaleb Beasley – fits in with the latter.
“Coach Martinez has talked to me a lot, but I’ve never had a chance to work with him,” the four-star told Volquest. “If I come here, I want to know what it’s like to work with him. It went really well.
“It was great coming back down here, as always. He coached me up a lot on everything and on some of the things that I need to fix. It was a great time and the defensive backs did well in 1-on-1’s.”
Last Wednesday’s June 1 camp was the first for a busy month ahead. The Nashville, Tenn. native was easily one of the top-performers on the night and had a chance to get to know Martinez and Tim Banks on a more personal level.
“Coach Banks is more of a sit back and chill kind of coach. He likes to look at everything,” the Lipscomb Academy standout said. “Coach Martinez is always energetic and ready to go. He was teaching me to be square when I pressed.
“They get the message to you. They want you to do what they are saying and nothing else. I really like that about them.”
The blue chip prospect checks in at No. 42 nationally, per Rivals, and fifth at the cornerback position. He boasts over 30 offers and has also checked in at Notre Dame, Auburn, UCF, Texas A&M, Louisville, Auburn and Clemson recently. Beasley plans to be at Alabama on June 22 and also earned a Clemson offer following his recent camp performance.
“I feel like the relationship has been going very well with Tennessee and the players have been helping out a lot,” the cornerback said. “With Nico [Iamaleava] committing, I’m good friends with him. He’s locking me in with the coaches. I’m getting to know the coaches a lot better because of him and I’ve been talking to some of the freshmen who have just come in – like Kaleb Webb.”
While the in-state prospect will obviously be a priority target over the next two years, Josh Heupel has already made it a point to join the efforts as well.
“He’s changed the program around so much. He’s got all these five-star and four-stars committing here,” Beasley said of Heupel. “What I really like about him is that he talks to my family a lot and they like that about him too. He’ll ask how they are doing and how work is going – stuff like that.”
Tennessee will be in this one until the very end for the in-state prospect, especially with cousin Aaron Beasley on campus right now. However, the Vols will need to keep the foot on the pedal throughout as the Lipscomb star will be sought after from programs all over the country.
“I like how Tennessee plays with more defensive backs on the field. I’ll be able to play if there are more defensive backs on the field at the same time,” Beasley concluded. “It was good being here - wanted to get some work in like always. With the wide receivers that were out here too, you don’t always get that.”
Beasley owns a Rivals Rating of 5.9.
