Five years after his first commitment to the Vols, massive JUCO DL Darel Middleton pledges to Tennessee
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Jeremy Pruitt’s program is starting to heat up on the recruiting trail as Tennessee has landed commit No. 4 in just over a week’s time. The latest recruit to offer his pledge to the Volunteers, and the second to do so in a span of 12 hours, is junior college defensive lineman Darel Middleton.
Middleton announced his decision late Wednesday night. Listed at 6-foot-7, 290-pounds, the East Mississippi Community College prospect looks to be another piece of the puzzle for the Vols as the program attempts to build up both lines of scrimmage under Pruitt.
Originally from East Tennessee, Oak Ridge to be exact, Middleton originally commit to Tennessee in early 2013. He was listed as a four-star commit coming out of high school in the 2016 recruiting cycle. He signed with Mississippi Gulf Coast due to academics and landed at East Mississippi earlier this year. If he does indeed find his way to Knoxville as a member of Tennessee’s 2019 recruiting class, it’s hard to imagine he won’t see the field immediately in some capacity.
Here is Middleton’s commitment post from Wednesday evening:
https://twitter.com/Darel__/status/981733830699692032
Following Middleton’s pledge, Tennessee now has four commitments in the 2019 recruiting cycle — three of which are from linemen.
His high school highlight reel is pretty incredible. The reel appropriately named “Man Child.” Give it a view and it won’t take you long to figure out why:
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
