Tennessee offers On3 top-25 prospect Benedict Umeh

Avon (Conn.) Avon Old Farms four-star defensive lineman Benedict Umeh received an offer from Tennessee on Tuesday. He announced the news over social media.

Umeh is the No. 116 overall prospect and No. 15 defensive lineman in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 1 player in Connecticut.

On3 rates Umeh higher than other recruiting services, according to the Industry Comparison. Per the 2024 On300, he is the No. 24 overall prospect and No. 4 defensive lineman in the country.

After a great call with @CoachCrab, I'm honoured to announce I have an offer from the University of Tennessee #AGTG #GBO 🍊@Vol_Football @JonathanWholley @730scouting pic.twitter.com/IPmgv33PjS

— Benedict Umeh 🇳🇬 (@benedict_umeh) March 7, 2023

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound defender holds 39 offers. According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Bowling Green is leading for his commitment at 31.3%.

Per Ryan Snyder of BlueWhiteIllustrated, Umeh has two upcoming visits scheduled. They will be to Penn State on March 28 and Duke on April 1.

Meanwhile, he is also intrigued by Michigan and Notre Dame. He spoke about his interest in Michigan with Zach Libby of The Wolverine.

For more Tennessee recruiting intel, check out Volquest.

“First of all, Michigan knows how to develop their d-linemen, which is something that has stood out to me,” Umeh said on Jan. 11. “They get after the quarterback. I mean, they played their hearts out in the semifinals. It was unfortunate with how it ended but they really impressed me all season. The few (college football) games that I watched last season, two of them were Michigan.”

“I’d really like to see the stadium. It’s big (laughs),” he added. “Two of my friends actually went on a road trip and they visited a bunch of college football stadiums. They said Michigan’s is nuts (laughs). Michigan will be a contender regardless, to me personally, because of all of the recruiting stuff through sending mail and sending text messages. It’s really nice and I’m really appreciative of the effort some schools put in.”

Notre Dame is also pushing for the four-star. Umeh, who is originally from Canada, broke down what he likes about the Fighting Irish with Kyle Kelly of Blue and Gold.

 “The academics are insane,” Umeh said on Feb. 22. “It’s always been my dream to go to a high-standing academic school. I wasn’t big on sports before I really got into football. So for me, I was going to get into a school just for my grades. …Like, I can’t say no to a great academic school like Notre Dame.

“And not to mention, the football is historically amazing. And recently, like, really, really good. It’s not one of those schools that have fallen off in modern times. I have a lot of positive things to say about Notre Dame.”