National Signing Day 2011: TE Cameron Clear Stays In-state To Play For Tennessee

Memphis Central High School prep prospect Cameron Clear has verbally committed to Tennessee.

The 6'6" 265 pound 4-star tight end is ranked as the state of Tennessee's number 1 high school prospect by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Clear has had numerous offers from major programs, including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Notre Dame among others.

Clear's first collegiate offer came from Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban when he was just a junior.  In the end, the final decision was clear as the massive tight end narrowed his choices to the Tide, the Vols, Memphis and Duke. 

At the 1:00 CST afternoon announcement, Clear made his decision known.

The Memphis Central star becomes the 25th member of Head Coach Derek Dooley's recruiting class of 2011 and fills a huge void left by departing tight end Luke Stocker.  Clear joins Bristol's Brendan Downs as the second tight end to commit to the 2011 class.

Clear has long expressed his desire to play the tight end position at the college level but many player evaluators think that the talented prep star may eventually outgrow the position.  For that reason, many recruiting sites, including Rivals, has Clear listed as an offensive tackle.  The ability to potentially play more than one position at the collegiate level made Clear all that more attractive to major college coaches.  

Rivals Football Recruiting Analyst Barry Every said this about Clear, "It is not out of the realm of possibility for him to become an every-down tight end.  He has soft hands for a big guy and he knows how to use his body to shield defenders away from the ball.  As a potential offensive lineman, he is one of the most athletic prospects in the country."

The addition of Clear can only push the Vols recruiting class further towards the top 10 as Tennessee had climbed to number 15 before the afternoon commitment, according to Rivals.

The Vols' newest future member wasted little time and was already making plans to call recruits Antonio Richardson and Gabe Wright in an effort to help Tennessee close out their class with a boom.

The signing period for recruits begins tomorrow at 9:00 AM and has become a day all to itself known throughout the college football world as National Signing Day.