Via On3, who I believe had the story out first, Tennessee football added its first offensive lineman to the 2025 class when Antoni Kade Ogumoro committed Tuesday evening.
Ogumoro, at a listed 6-4, 230 pounds, is the first of somewhere around 4-5 OL that the staff would like to snatch up in this cycle. He’s listed as a three-star, interior offensive lineman prospect and ranked the ninth-best player in his current home state, Oklahoma. He played HS ball in North Carolina before moving to Oklahoma last November.
247 lists offers from other schools like Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma, TCU, North Carolina and NC State, among others. He visited the Tar Heels three times, once as recent as April, but said in the end it came down to a Tennessee/ Oklahoma decision with the good guys coming out on top, via Ryan Callahan’s post about the commitment,
The evaluation from 247’s recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks sounds promising — like perhaps Ogumoro is a prospect on the rise — and even hints at some possible future position versatility, which is something we know this staff values.
“Unverified size but looks the part physically on tape,” Brooks said. “Big base with strong lower-body drive train that fuels run-game strength. Can get more consistent with punch, but flashes heavy hands. Pulls and climbs with encouraging functional athleticism. Can be a force playing forward to the second level. Gets hips involved when engaged and regularly overwhelms high school targets. Multi-sport athlete who’s played basketball and gotten limited throws reps (shot put, discus). Also has gotten valuable two-way snaps. Can improve balance and body control. Sometimes plays out over his feet. Potentially provides roster flexibility thanks to tackle experience and mauler-type field demeanor that projects particularly well to guard. P4-caliber O-lineman with promising context in pads and desired multi-sport and two-way background who could possibly possess sneaky long-term upside.”
His tape on Hudl looks encouraging, as you see the big man play on the inside and outside of the line, smash guys in front of him and then get to the second level and drive a back-seven defender downfield like he’s just pushing a broom at a warehouse. But I’m no coach, and I certainly don’t have the credentials to offer any real insight or critiques. For those of you who are more familiar with base-level or more advanced evaluations, please feel free to leave them in the comments. He looks athletic on tape, and some of that could be due to him being a hoops player most of his life, starting his football career during his sophomore season of high school and moving to the offensive line last season. Oh, and he also participates in the shot put and discus events with the track and field team.
Tennessee originally offered Ogumoro in early November of last year — the young man’s first SEC offer — and it looks like the Vols have been the team to beat since. He visited for his junior day in early February, and not long after, 247’s Ryan Callahan had some glowing from an interview after the visit.
“Right now, they’re definitely at the top — like, (No.) 1 right now,” said Ogumoro, who received a scholarship offer from Tennessee on Nov. 12 and now holds offers from at least 13 schools. “They were pretty much that way (before the visit) — just the way they were on the phone, getting that vibe off of them.
“But they really finished it off going into that visit and seeing, ‘Oh, yeah, these guys are for real.’”
Apparently UT OL Coach Glen Elarbee went to Oklahoma last Wednesday to see Ogumoro, knowing that the lineman had set his decision date for today. I would imagine that final visit sealed the deal.
Tennessee still has plenty of work to do for OL prospects on the recruiting front, but this looks like a solid, high-ceiling foundation. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but the Vols are in a good spot with several guys, for now: David Sanders (No. 2 overall player in the country, with some saying UT has the momentum. Sanders traveled to UT on consecutive weekends in April — the weekend prior to the Orange and White Game and then the following weekend when the game was played. Rumors are he may be back this weekend for one more trip before he starts taking his official visits); Jaelyne Matthews (all six 247 crystal-ball picks have Tennessee coming out on top here); Dontrell Glover, Mal Waldrep (currently here on an official visit, allegedly) and others still uncommitted, interested and/ or leaning in the Vols’ direction.
The next few months will be hectic on the recruiting front, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for more good news to come.