Tennessee Looking to Flip Miami Commit with the Help of Commit Derrick Baker

Flipping season is about to get underway with some of the best players in the country realizing that they might have committed too early. Tennessee has already lost one of its early 2027 commits, Kamauri Whitfield, as he recently decided to reopen his recruitment.

The Volunteers are attempting to do the opposite and flip players committed elsewhere. One such player is four-star receiver Ah’mari Stevens, who is currently committed to Miami.

Stevens has now been committed to the Hurricanes for over a year, but he has followed a trend of committed athletes to announce a “top schools” list despite being committed. What he called the “final five” in a social media post, he named the “final five” schools that he is down to, which are Miami, Texas, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee. He told Vols on SI why he is looking at other schools in spite of his recruitment.

“I am just trying to experience everything I have dreamed about since I was a kid. I just want to enjoy everything.”

Stevens has already scheduled visits to four of the five schools that are in his top five, with the Volunteers being the only one that he does not have a set date on (but he is planning for one). Tennessee does have one thing that no other school has to offer, and that is 2027 quarterback commit Derrick Baker, a close friend of Stevens.

Baker Looking to Help Tennessee Land Ah’mari Stevens

Baker plays at Milton High School in Milton, Georgia, while Stevens plays at Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood, Florida, but Baker is originally from Florida, where he and Stevens grew up together. Stevens likes the idea of playing with Baker at the next level.

“We have been playing together since 12U, so it would be a blessing to play with him almost all the way through my career. We have seen each other elevate each year, and now we are back together (playing for Cam Newton’s 7-on-7 team), and he is definitely pushing for me to go to Tennessee.”

This is not to say that Baker is the only reason Stevens wants to come to Tennessee. Receivers coach Kelsey Pope is also a major reason Stevens is looking into the Volunteers.

“Coach Pope came to my school and told me a couple of things that stood out from a lot of other coaches.”

Besides those two, Stevens has a couple of other reasons he views Tennessee so highly.

“They play a lot of freshmen, they are a passing school, and they are in the SEC, which has a lot of the top programs in the country.”

Again, he does not have an official visit set, but he is in the process of getting up to Knoxville for a visit along with Baker.