2016 Recruiting Class

"If there's that much energy and the stands aren't even full, I just want to check it out when it is full. I liked it, it was exciting," Davis said. "I've been to other spring games and the attendance hasn't been anything like that. It's nice.

"I got to see everything in action. I came up here when no one was really here because it was a junior day. When I actually got to see the action it was pretty nice."

"(Davis and Azzanni) talk pretty much like every other day. We're pretty close. Me and coach Jones talk as well, and coach Thig," Davis said. Although it was just a scrimmage, it was also Davis' first time seeing the Vols' offense in action and he liked what he saw. "I'm familiar with it. I love spread offenses. I'm a wide receiver," Davis said with a smile. "The facility, it blows you away," Davis said. "It blows you away. I was looking forward to coming here just because of it. That was one of the main reasons. I love it."

"That's what I'm doing right now," Davis explained. "I'm still committed to South Carolina and I still communicate with the coaches and I tell them I'm going places and they encourage me to go to places because they want me to see where I would fit in the best and if it's South Carolina it's South Carolina and if it's Tennessee, it's Tennessee.

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And despite his commitment to South Carolina, I think Tennessee has some momentum here. Will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few months for Davis as the Vols are beginning to make a serious move here in my opinion.

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“I know just about everything I like about Tennessee, and it only gets better,” said Bituli, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 135 overall prospect and the No. 1 player from the state of Tennessee in the 247Sports Composite for the 2016 class.

“I like it up here. I really like it up here. They are number one right now. Tennessee is number one right now.”

The 6-foot-3.5, 235-pound Bituli said Auburn remains “number two” on his list after making a big impression on him last month during his first visit with the Tigers. But with Bituli heading into perhaps the final months of his recruitment, he said the Vols have continued to establish themselves as the team to beat.

“They’ve been up there for a whole bunch of months,” he said. “I just like the atmosphere down here, and it’s a good area, a good place to be.”

A number of other teams — including LSU, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Florida, Notre Dame and Oklahoma — have extended offers to Bituli, but he said Tennessee and Auburn currently have his attention, and he’s focused on “mainly those two right now.”

“Just the way they run their offense and defense — the scheme in general — I think it’s a good fit for me, if I were to come here,” Bituli said. “I liked it all. I really enjoyed the environment. I know just about everything about these fans, and they love their football team. I really like that.”

“The first coach I talked to was Butch, and I talked to Coach Thigpen and got to see some of the players, and they’re really good people,” Bituli said. “(Jones said) that he really wants me down here and Tennessee’s a really good place to be — just anything a really good coach would say — and it’s true.”

Bituli said he has developed a close relationship with Thigpen over the past several months.

“Oh, that’s my dog,” Bituli said. “We talk to each other almost every day on Twitter, and we don’t just talk about football. We just talk about life in general, and I’ve gotten to know him as a person — not (just) as a coach.”

While Bituli hasn’t decided when or where he might go on his next visit, he said he “probably” will travel to Auburn again before making his college decision. And he said he’s currently planning on “committing this summer,” adding that he wants “to get it out of the way so I don’t distract myself this upcoming football season.”

“I do feel confident I’ll be able to make my decision by then,” Bituli said.

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