If you're a fan of SEC football, there's a good chance you're a follower of SEC recruiting … and in recruiting, news never sleeps. It is a 365-day a year battle for supremacy, with key battles won and lost as early as May, as much as they are in February and during fall visits.
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Today, we look at the past week — Monday, July 3 through Sunday night, July 9. With summer camps and combines, as well as on-campus unofficial visits, things can get busy in SEC recruiting.
This week alone we saw class of 2018 and even 2019 prospects commit to SEC schools.
HERO Sports will give you an idea of who won the past week each week, using the 247Sports.com composite ranking — which averages all services.
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WHICH SEC TEAM WON THE WEEK?
TENNESSEE
THE SKINNY: Oh, if every program could have a week like the Volunteers had last week. Maybe that's why 247Sports has the Volunteers ranked the No. 1 overall class in the SEC, eh? The Vols landed a Top 100 overall prospect in Greg Emerson, an in-stater from Jackson. He's a defensive end who scares people. And then junior college transfer Dorian Gerald also came aboard, another defensive end. He's rated the No. 5 overall JUCO prospect in the country and the No. 1 JUCO defensive end. Not a bad week's work.
WHO IS NEXT?: That's easy — Mississippi State landed two outstanding safeties last week in Shawn Preston Jr. and Tyrese Ross. Preston hails from Mississippi and Ross is an Atlanta native. Both are high-end 3-star prospects.
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WHO LANDED THE TOP PROSPECT?
TENNESSEE – DE Greg Emerson (2018)
THE SKINNY: He's 6-foot-5, 270 pounds and he can get after you, so watch out for consensus Top 100 prospect Greg Emerson when he reached Knoxville next year. He's one of the top SEC pickups of the past few weeks, and is one of the reasons the Vols have the No. 1 SEC class now. A close second place? New Kentucky pledge Xavier Peters of West Chester, Ohio — a Mark Stoops Ohio hotbed for recruiting. He's a 4-star inside linebacker with great size.
It's Official GBO #VFL https://t.co/4E1vRM4weD
— Greg Emerson/G.mamba (@sneakerhad_greg) July 7, 2017
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So which SEC teams landed recruits in the past week? Take a look at who came aboard, and where the 247Sports composite ranking rates them:
| SCHOOL | PLAYER | CLASS | POS | HOMETOWN | HGT | WGT | STARS | COMMITTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TENNESSEE | Greg Emerson | 2018 | DE | Jackson, TN | 6'5" | 270 | 4 | 7/3/2017 |
| KENTUCKY | Xavier Peters | 2018 | ILB | West Chester, OH | 6'4" | 225 | 4 | 7/4/2017 |
| MISSOURI | Danny Gray | 2018 | WR | Dallas, TX | 6'1" | 175 | 3 | 7/4/2017 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | Lavonte Valentine | 2018 | RB | Melbourne, FL | 6'2" | 190 | 3 | 7/4/2017 |
| MISSISSIPPI ST. | Shawn Preston Jr. | 2018 | S | Saint James, LA | 6'0" | 190 | 3 | 7/7/2017 |
| MISSISSIPPI ST. | Tyrese Ross | 2018 | S | Atlanta, GA | 6'0" | 180 | 3 | 7/7/2017 |
| VANDERBILT | Ja'Veon Marlow | 2018 | RB | Winter Haven, FL | 5'10" | 200 | 3 | 7/9/2017 |
| TENNESSEE | Dorian Gerald | 2018 | DE | Valencia, CA | 6'3" | 260 | 3 | 7/6/2017 |
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Which SEC team won previous weeks and landed the top prospect of the week? Check it out:
June 26-July 2 – Georgia
June 19-25 – Tennessee and Alabama
June 12-18 – Vanderbilt and Kentucky
June 5-11 – Texas A&M and Texas A&M
