KNOXVILLE — Several former Tennessee football players and current players with another year of eligibility left are among the 47 student-athletes listed to graduate this semester, according to figures released by the athletic department.
Jeff Cottam, Morgan Cox, Jonathan Crompton, Jacques McClendon, Chris Scott and Dan Williams will have earned degrees before taking the field for their senior season.
McClendon, a former Baylor School star and Walker Valley High School graduate, earned his degree in finance in just three years. The other five redshirted early in their careers.
“That (degree) will mean as much to me and my family as anything I’ll ever do on the field,” McClendon said after a spring practice session last month.
Six former UT student-athletes — baseball’s Kelly Edmunson and football’s Corey Campbell, Jonathan Hefney, Ryan Karl, Matt McGlothlin and Jayson Swain — finished their degrees through the athletic department’s “Renewing Academic Commitment” program.
Edmunson left a full-time job at a Memphis baseball training facility to re-enroll at UT, and Hefney delayed several tryouts for NFL teams but plans to continue that quest this summer.
“These students have worked hard to reach this achievement and earn their degrees,” said Eric Brey, director of UT’s Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. “They now have earned the distinction of being University of Tennessee alumni. We are very proud of their accomplishments.”
Men’s basketball players Ryan Childress and Tanner Wild, who exhausted their eligibility last season, also earned their degrees.
Maples to transfer
UT’s player losses didn’t end when they reached double digits.
Wide receiver Tyler Maples mutually parted ways with the program after a spring practice exit meeting with first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, making him at least the 11th defection since Kiffin arrived in December.
Attempts to contact Maples haven’t been successful, but multiple officials at Maryville High School confirmed the news.
Maples — a key cog in Maryville’s three consecutive Class 4A state championships from 2004 to ’06, as well as a Mr. Football award winner and BlueCross Bowl MVP — redshirted in 2007 and made just one appearance last season. That was in the 34-3 victory over Mississippi State, and he did not catch a pass.
Four players, including former McCallie School quarterback star B.J. Coleman, have left the UT program since April 18’s Orange and White game. Multiple sources have indicated that Maples has considered joining Coleman at UT-Chattanooga, where he would be immediately eligible to play.
Vols add 2011 pledge
UT assistant head coach Ed Orgeron and wide receivers coach Frank Wilson continued to have recruiting success in their native Louisiana by securing a surprisingly early commitment from New Orleans O. Perry Walker High School defensive lineman Anthony Johnson.
Johnson, already 6-foot-4 and nearly 300 pounds, will be one of the class of 2011’s highest-rated prospects, Rivals.com’s Jamie Newberg said. LSU and several other programs had also offered Johnson a scholarship.
The Vols have two public commitments for the 2010 and 2011 classes. Rising junior tight end Eric MacLain from Fayeteville, N.C., has been committed for months.
