{"id":151643,"date":"2022-12-08T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T09:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/junior-college-offensive-lineman-commits-to-tennessee-after-offer\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T09:15:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T09:15:15","slug":"junior-college-offensive-lineman-commits-to-tennessee-after-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/junior-college-offensive-lineman-commits-to-tennessee-after-offer\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior-college offensive lineman commits to Tennessee after offer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After getting a scholarship offer from Tennessee on Saturday, Larry JohnsonIII<\/b> didn’t waste any time making plans to spend the final weekend before Early Signing Day visiting the Vols. But he decided Wednesday that he didn’t need to wait that long to make his college decision.<\/p>\n

The freshman offensive lineman from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College announced Wednesday night that he has committed to the Vols, giving them a junior-college prospect with impressive size to address one of their top remaining needs. He picked Tennessee over Houston and Maryland, among others.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-7, 350-pound Johnson picked up an offer from the Vols last weekend after Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee<\/b> traveled to Kansas to see Hutchinson’s playoff game against Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Johnson quickly made plans to take an official visit to Knoxville the weekend of Dec. 16 and ultimately called off his trip to Maryland that had been scheduled for that weekend.<\/p>\n

Houston hosted Johnson on an official visit the weekend of Nov. 25. He also landed an offer from UCF on Sunday before settling on the Vols.<\/p>\n

Johnson became Tennessee’s 24th commitment for the 2023 class and the fourth projected offensive lineman in the Vols’ class. He has yet to be rated by 247Sports and in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.<\/p>\n

He was a full academic qualifier coming out of Jenkins High School in Savannah, Ga., as a member of the 2022 class. After mostly drawing interest from Division II and Division III schools, he said, he decided to enroll at Hutchinson in hopes of getting the attention of more Division I programs.<\/p>\n

Johnson said he will have four years to play his final three seasons of eligibility at Tennessee. He plans to join the Vols in January as an early enrollee.<\/p>\n

He said Tuesday night that he was “still in disbelief” about getting an offer from Elarbee on Saturday following Hutchinson’s 38-7 victory over Coffeyville in the National Junior College Athletic Association national semifinals.<\/p>\n

“The reason why I’m still kind of, like, in disbelief is because, when I was younger, I always knew how big the SEC was, and the whole conference, so I never really pictured myself at a high level,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Johnson said Elarbee hasn’t mentioned a specific position on the offensive line Tennessee might envision him playing. But Johnson said Elarbee “liked everything about me” after evaluating him in person during Saturday’s game.<\/p>\n

“He felt like he can develop me into one of his great linemen that he made and helped go to the League and things like that. … He said (I would be) most likely a tackle, but he could see me at guard , too,\u201d Johnson said, recalling some of his conversations with Elarbee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n