Mississippi Safety John Slaughter Talks Upcoming Visit Plans, Recruitment

Southaven (Miss.) Safety John Slaughter currently holds offers from twelve Division 1 programs, but two teams are working to separate themselves from the rest. The fast-rising safety from the Magnolia State shares the latest with Sports Illustrated All-American.

Slaughter has recently picked up an offer from Florida State, and he plans to make the trip to Tallahassee at some point this summer. He will camp at Alabama as well, as the Crimson Tide has recently expressed an interest in him.

However, the two teams working overtime in Slaughter's recruitment are Ole Miss and Tennessee. He is coming off a recent unofficial visit to Ole Miss, and he has two trips set to Tennessee. The first one will come on Memorial Day weekend as an unofficial; then, he will return a month later for an official visit.

"I am really just talking with my family and working through all of it with them, to be honest," Slaughter said of trying to separate between the two schools.

"It was a good visit," Slaughter said of the latest trip to Ole Miss. "They were able to show me even more about how I am a top target and safety for them. I really like that it is close to home."

Slaughter has enjoyed the proximity to home with Ole Miss. Because of this, he is unsure if the Rebels will receive an official visit from him.

"It is so close to home that I drive up there on my own," Slaughter said of this. "I can get up there and look at things myself. I actually have a close friend on the team in Quinshon Judkins. So I can really go up there and spend time with the coaching staff during the visit periods. I already know everything there is to know about the schools, so I don't know if I will use an OV on it. I might, though, because they were my first offer, and I want to show them love."

Josh Heupel's program has worked hard to be one of the teams to beat in Slaughter's recruitment. 

"It is just the love they show," Slaughter said of what stands out to Tennessee. "It means a lot to me because some schools don't even contact me, so to get that type of love from a big school like Tennessee means a lot to me."

"They have shown me a lot, but I would say just looking more into their plans to get me on the field," Slaughter said of what he will look for on the upcoming visits to Knoxville. "They have talked about it a little bit already, but I just want to go more in-depth and know what I would need to do when I get there if I was to go there."

"When I get on the phone with Coach Heup, I end up getting on the phone with the whole staff," Slaughter said of his growing relationship with the Tennesse staff. "We get on the phone as much as possible."

"I would like to wait until after these visits because I am going to some big camps this summer," Slaughter said of a potential decision timeline. "I want to get a couple of more offers and catch the attention of a couple of more coaches. I am going to camp at Alabama. They told my coach they wanted to see me work out. My plan is to commit the week before my season."