Monday, April 21, 2008

Holy Bench Press, Batman!

Justin Groves, of Rock Solid Sports on WUTK Radio (UT's student radio station), just reported that Jacques McClendon broke the Tennessee bench press record by pressing 635 pounds! Good Lord, man, that's like 1.5 Manginos.

Vladimir Richard also benched an amazing 600 pounds today. This furthers my belief that Vlad is the baddest man in the world, and maybe even the entire campus. If Tebow is a Baby Rhino, then Vlad is like a .... Real Rhino. Too bad Vlad isn't on the defensive line to create a Rhino v Rhino matchup in September.

Lastly, Groves said Gerald Jones, of Orange and White game dominance and future legend of the program, benched 335 pounds and had a 41 inch vertical leap today. It's as if he's athletic or something. Gerald, he of 72 inches and 190ish pounds, can bench press a Phil Fulmer. That's sick, both literally and slang-edly.

Groves, against his own wishes, is going to be a roundabout contributor to The Power T in the future. I'll have his insights from the Orange and White game up as soon as I get the energy to e-mail him the questions. Blame me, and Canada.

O&W Game Brings 2 Commitments

The Orange and White game (which we'll have some coverage later) not only brought the annual "ZOMG WE'RE GOING TO B TEH BESTEST TEAM IN AMERICAZ" feeling from me and just about everybody else, it also brought two very nice verbal commitments for the 2009 signing class.

First, Dominique Allen, HB/FB from Henry Co. High School in Paris, TN, committed after the Orange and White game. He's teammates with Marsalis Teague, an athlete with an offer from UT. Allen will probably bide his time behind Kevin Cooper and Austin Johnson at FB when he arrives in 2009, but it could also give UT the flexibility to move Johnson back to LB. Allen is rated at Rivals yet, but at 5'11", 235, Allen could provide what we all thought Cory Anderson was going to: a threat to block and to run. I love this quote he said to Austin Price at Volquest: "I just feel the love, like I'm already part of the family here."

Second, a surprise commitment from Virginia athlete Damien Thigpen. How this young man is rated 250th in the Rivals 250 is beyond me. Sure, he's a bit short at 5'8", but his 4.34 40 yard dash should boost his rating. His 4.08 shuttle time is certainly awe-inspiring, and he already benches 295 pounds while only weighing 170. Many people have pointed out to me, and I agree, that he seems to be Clawson's UT version of Brian Westbrook, in theory. Some speculate he could be a cornerback, but with his breakneck speed, I'd love to see him in a Gerald Jones-esque role in our offense come 2010 when he's a sophomore. I expect he'll have a plethora of Rocky Top Jars.

Lastly, while we didn't get commitments from anybody else, our recruiting momentum right now is insane. Logan Thomas, Cody Ledford, Marlon Brown, and a slew of many others have Tennessee on, or near, the top of their lists. Our new staff is really doing well on the trail, and from different quotes, it sounds like the new staff shares a vision on what players they want - something the old staff didn't necessarily have.

Great weekend for the Vols, no doubt.