Chattanooga Times Free Press

McCallie QB selects Vandy

- BY STEPHEN HARGIS STAFF WRITER Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreep­ress.com or 423-757-6293.

McCallie School quarterbac­k Jeremy St. Hilaire became Vanderbilt’s first verbal commitment for the 2024 recruiting class on Saturday.

St. Hilaire, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound transfer from Montreal who enrolled at McCallie prior to his junior season last year, threw for 2,333 yards and 25 touchdowns and ran for 410 and seven scores in 2022. He was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Associatio­n’s allstate team after helping guide the Blue Tornado to the TSSAA Division II-AAA semifinals, where a one-point loss to Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville kept the program from the BlueCross Bowl and an attempt to win a fourth straight state title.

“He’s the whole package,” Blue Tornado coach Ralph Potter said. “He’s big and physical, throws the ball really well — with good touch as well as a strong arm — and can run the ball as well. “He’s got really good escapabili­ty and can muscle people away from him. He’s just a beast with a really bright future and gives you a lot of options from an offensive perspectiv­e. Vanderbilt had him at the top of their board and has shown a lot of interest for some time. They have everything he wants as far as academics and the level of play, and he has felt really comfortabl­e with the staff, so he just decided there was no reason to string it out any longer.”

St. Hilaire, who also had an offer from Wake Forest and was being heavily recruited by Penn State, announced his commitment on social media, posting on his Twitter account: “I am excited to announce my commitment to Vanderbilt University!!”

In a Dec. 1 tweet, St. Hilaire wrote that he had “a great talk” with Commodores offensive coordinato­r and quarterbac­ks coach Joey Lynch and that Vanderbilt’s offer at that time was his first from a Division I program.

The 2023 season will be Vanderbilt’s third with Clark Lea as head coach. The team had highlight wins in Southeaste­rn Conference play at Kentucky and against Florida last year.

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Jeremy St. Hilaire

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