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5-Star Darius Gray Breaks Down His Final Five

Five-star Darius Gray breaks down his final five programs prior to his commitment decision
Caleb Sisk|
Darius Gray on his Tennessee Volunteers official visit
Darius Gray on his Tennessee Volunteers official visit | Darius Gray

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Tennessee Volunteers

One of the top targets on the Tennessee Volunteers' recruiting board has released his latest updates in his recruitment, as well as his final cut of schools being announced. He announced that five schools have made the cut, and that will be his final schools before committing. That prospect being five-star interior offensive lineman Darius Gray.

Gray broke down why each of his top schools made the cut when speaking with Vols On SI.

Tennessee: “Oh, easily it definitely starts with the guys in the O-Line room. Starting with Coach Elarbee. I’d definitely say that’s the main reason for me, and I mean Coach Heup (Josh Heupel), a guy like that running the program, you know, it kind of speaks for itself. Tennessee has been building for years, and they are only scratching the surface. They are getting guys like David Sanders and (JB) Shabazz and all of those guys, you can just see they are going to continue the up trend.”

Clemson: “Definitely, I would have to say Coach Sweeney’s longevity there. Him bringing in Coach Luke was a big part in it as well. Coach Sweeney does everything the right way. He is going to fight for his players, so that has been a big thing, and Coach Luke is a fantastic human being. Outside of football, he’s an even better coach, so it’s hard to say no to something like that.”

LSU: “Definitely Coach Davis. Coach Davis is one of the greatest humans that I’ve ever talked to. He gives off a father figure. He hopes the kids grow as men, and that is very important with me coming into college at 18, so to have someone like that to help you develop as an NFL player, but also as a great human being, a great husband, a great father, and that is just something I want. LSU kind of speaks for itself. It’s a winning program. They do everything to develop linemen perfectly, so that’s good and they check all the boxes.”

South Carolina: “They have been the longest relationship possible. I think the most important thing to me is how everyone remained the same. You know way back, they were a five or six win team and now they are scratching the surface for playoffs and not once did they change anything that they are doing with their culture, so I think that’s been the biggest thing for me and Coach Beamer is an amazing people that you’d want to play for.”

Ohio State: “ A winning program. You can see the reason they have been able to develop linemen. I think it is huge that they got Coach Bowen he was a guy from Virginia Tech, you know we have a great relationship so you can kind of see the way Coach Ryan Day sets up his program and it’s big, and he spoke about it in an interview, you know mental health is important. It gets lost in this college football world that these are still kids at the end of the day, so It’s great to have a head coach understand like that, and very vocal about it. The biggest thing is that they develop and win. It’s a big/huge program that everyone loves.”

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Caleb Sisk
CALEB SISK

Caleb Sisk is a talented sports journalist from the state of Georgia. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sisk's passion for sports grew. Bringing years of recruiting coverage experience, he has been named a National Recruiting Reporter and covers various college sites on the On SI network. He takes pride in covering recruiting and has been featured by numerous companies for his excellent coverage and knowledge. He has also spent time at other companies, including Rivals, where he covered the Tennessee Volunteers.

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