Elite lineman Smith to pick college

Tennessee may have home- state edge

Trey Smith, the No. 1 overall football recruit in the ESPN 300, will announce his college destination Tuesday during College Foot

ball Daily on ESPNU ( 4 p. m. ET). Smith, an Under Armour AllAmerican offensive tackle from University School of Jackson ( Tenn.), is expected to chose from among Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Mississippi and Tennessee.

“I haven’t made my decision yet, because there are plenty of good reasons to go with any of those schools,” Smith said last week after being presented with Tennessee’s Mr. Football for the second consecutive year. “But my family and I will talk about it and pray about it and figure out where the best option for me to go is.”

He had set Tuesday as decision day well in advance and was having a visit Monday from assistant coaches from Tennessee. Volunteers head coach Butch Jones had an in- home visit with him last week. He was expected to get a visit from Nick Saban and Alabama assistants as well as Urban Meyer and Ohio State assistants.

The 247Sports Crystal Ball has 85% of the predictions going to Tennessee. In its rankings, 247 has Smith No. 4 overall. The 247 Composite has him No. 20.

“An outstanding combination of size, ability and toughness has helped elevate Trey Smith to the top spot in the ESPN300,” ESPN national recruiting analyst Craig Haubert said in statement. “The five- star prospect has made noticeable strides since his sopho- more year in filling out his frame and adding size.

“In addition to measurables, Smith is also a flexible and agile big man with the tools to protect the edge in pass pro and generate lanes in the run game. Among the impressive traits the top tackle possesses is his tenacity, as he is a big man that plays with attitude and a demeanor to finish every play. Smith is a talented prospect at a premium position and demonstrates the ability to develop into a premier college tackle, with the ability to be a quick contributor once arriving on campus.”

Not everyone is as high on Smith. In the Rivals 100 released Monday, Smith is in the 90s.

“I think it’s pretty clear it will be Tennessee, barring a big surprise,” Rivals national recruiting director Mike Farrell said. “He’s a talented kid and in the top 100. You see him someplace at No. 1 and in the top five someplace else and then in the 90s in Rivals, and people look at it as being a huge difference and say, ‘ What’s going on?’ Every time you see something like this scenario, people expect the whole industry to follow, but that’s not what we do. We could be right or could be wrong.

“For us, the level of competition is definitely a concern. It’s really, really, really not good at all. The high school film is dominant, but we’ve seen him at The Opening against elite competition, and he didn’t dominate there. We’ve seen him struggle with overextending and guessing. This might change at the Under Armour game, but we didn’t feel comfortable ranking that high based on destroying kids that have no reason being on the same field with him.”

As for the rankings, Smith says, “I just don’t pay attention to it. I could be ranked 1,000, it wouldn’t matter.”

C. B. SCHMELTER, THE JACKSON ( TENN.) SUN Trey Smith is ranked the top recruit of his class in the ESPN 300. He’ll announce his college choice on ESPNU on Tuesday.