Wake Forest RB commit scheduled for first look at Tennessee
Kendrell Flowers has been committed to Wake Forest for about two months, but the 3-star tailback from Irmo High (S.C.) is keeping his options open as his recruitment continues to gain steam this summer.
In the last few weeks, Flowers has received offers from Tennessee, Penn State and North Carolina, with several other Power 5 schools also evaluating the 6-foot, 195-pound tailback.
The Vols jumped into the mix in late May, and now Flowers plans to make his first visit to Rocky Top this weekend.
“I’ve had a lot of communication with coach (Jeremy) Pruitt and coach (Chris) Weinke,” Flowers told VolQuest.
“They all do a good job checking in on me and seeing what’s up. I actually just got off the phone with coach (Chris) Rumph. We set a date for me to come up there this weekend. On Sunday.”
Flowers stars for Irmo High in Columbia, right in South Carolina’s backyard, but while the Gamecocks have shown inconsistent interest, Tennessee’s offer was “a really big deal.”
“It was huge for me to know that an SEC school believed in me. That’s the best conference in college football, the hardest conference, they have the best competition. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. It was a huge offer for me to get,” Flowers said.
“They like my speed. They like the way I can come out of the backfield and catch the ball. My versatility really stood out to them because they said they could do a lot more stuff with me in the backfield than they could do with other ‘backs.”
Flowers has just played a single season of tailback in high school, starring as a receiver his sophomore season. He was used in a variety of ways in 2017, totaling 1,389 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns as a tailback, kick returner and slot receiver.
He wants to play tailback in college, saying, “I wear No. 26 because Le’veon Bell is my favorite running back. I like the way he’s patient behind his line. He waits until the holes are open. I like Saqoun Barkely as well. I started watching him as well like my ninth grade year. His explosion and he’s athletic. Those are two guys I really look up to, and both of them are 26, so that’s good for me.”
With a visit now set for Tennessee, Flowers is looking forward to meeting Pruitt, Weinke and Rumph face-to-face. He is not working out with the Vols on Sunday, and instead, plans to tour the campus and hang with the staff. Flowers is adamant that he’s solid to Wake Forest, but says Tennessee hopes to him something think about with a closer look.
“They said maybe I’ll go to one school and feel more at home there than I do at Wake, so they just told me that the recruiting process is an opportunity and really get a look at all these schools,” he said.
“They told me not to just visit Tennessee, but all schools. See as much as I can, to really get the feeling for all schools. I’m just seeing if they have something better to offer me than Wake.”