Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson carries the ball through the center after intercepting it during the Vols' season-opener football game against the Aggies on Aug. 31, 2014, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.IN-STATE STATSHere are the number of recruits SEC programs have signed from the state of Tennessee in the past three classes (2012-14).Tennessee 20Vanderbilt 13Ole Miss 9Mississippi State 3Missouri 3Kentucky 3Alabama 2Arkansas 2Georgia 1LSU 1Florida 1Auburn 1
KNOXVILLE - The state of Tennessee is producing more SEC football players than it was a few years ago.
Saturday night's game between Tennessee and Ole Miss will provide strong evidence of that.
The Volunteers are relying on more than a dozen in-state players as starters or contributors this season, while the third-ranked Rebels' top four running backs and a couple of other starters, including quarterback Bo Wallace and center Ben Still, are all Tennessee natives.
Hugh Freeze, the third-year Ole Miss coach who spent more than a decade coaching at Briarcrest Christian High School in Memphis, said on the SEC coaches' teleconference Wednesday that he believes the talent pool in Tennessee has "drastically" improved.
"When I was there as a high school coach -- and it could be because I wasn't in this world -- but I believe that it has increased," Freeze continued. "It seems to be increasing every year. There's tons of kids in of course the Memphis and the Nashville areas, but now there's starting to be some really high-profile prospects in those areas.
"I think it's going to continue to increase with the job that the high schools are doing there."
In its first three recruiting classes under Freeze, Ole Miss signed nine players out of Tennessee. Seven of those came from Memphis, which is roughly 90 minutes away from its Oxford campus.
The Rebels have added three transfers who are Tennessee natives, too, and including nonscholarship players there are 14 Tennessee residents on the Ole Miss roster.
Wallace, who will make his 33rd start for Ole Miss on Saturday, starred at Giles County High School in Pulaski, accounting for a state-record 4,195 yards and 47 total touchdowns and winning a Class 4A title in 2009. He wound up at Ole Miss after originally signing with Freeze at Arkansas State and spending a year at East Mississippi Community College.
Tennessee's previous staffs gave Wallace minimal attention out of both high school and junior college.
"It's no secret," he said at a Monday news conference, "that I grew up loving the Vols. I had my orange every Saturday. It's going to be fun getting to play them."
The Rebels' top four runners -- Jaylen Walton (Memphis Ridgeway), I'Tavius Mathers (Murfreesboro Blackman), Mark Dodson (Memphis Whitehaven) and Jordan Wilkins (Memphis St. Benedict) -- are all Tennesseans.
Ole Miss also currently has four commitments from Tennessee prospects for its 2015 class: Memphis University School offensive tackle Drew Richmond, the state's top-ranked prospect per Rivals.com; Nashville Overton cornerback Ugo Amadi; Giles County cornerback Cameron Ordway; and Nashville Christian School offensive tackle Alex Givens.
All four are ranked among the state's top 25 prospects by 247Sports.com, and only the Vols have more commitments among that group with five: Blackman quarterback Jauan Jennings, Oakland offensive lineman Jack Jones, Coalfield offensive lineman Zach Stewart, Nashville Hillsboro athlete Vincent Parry and Maryville lineman Dylan Jackson.
Tennessee and Ole Miss, along with Alabama and LSU, are among the suitors for Nashville Hillsboro defensive end Kyle Phillips, another four-star prospect, and both are after Justin Martin, a junior college cornerback who played at Overton in Nashville
In 2014, of course, the Vols signed 10 in-state prospects, a haul that included nine of 247Sports' top 11 in the state and was headlined by tailback Jalen Hurd, receiver Josh Malone, guard Jashon Robertson, safety Todd Kelly and defensive end Derek Barnett. Tennessee has eight in-state commitments for 2015.
"We always talk about winning our state first and foremost, and we are the University of Tennessee," Vols coach Butch Jones said. "We have great high school football players in this state and great high school coaching, but everything is about a profile and attracting the right fit for the University of Tennessee and the right fit for our football program.
"As evidenced by this past recruiting class, we've had tremendous success. If you look at the individuals who are really impacting the games for us and playing winning football, most of these individuals are from our in-state high schools. It starts with winning your state, but more importantly, it's your overall recruiting profile."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.