Micah Abernathy Commits to Tennessee: What 4-Star CB Brings to Vols

Tennessee suffered a heartbreaking 35-32 loss to Georgia two weeks ago, but Butch Jones and the Vols earned a huge win Friday morning over the ‘Dawgs by landing a commitment from 2015 4-star corner Micah Abernathy.

The Atlanta native selected the Vols over offers from Georgia, Oregon and Alabama, among others. The decision comes on the heels of his official visit to Knoxville last weekend. 

“After my three officials, we sat down and talked about it on Monday,” Abernathy told 247Sports' Rusty Mansell (via Ryan Callahan of GoVols247). “We talked about it a little bit Wednesday and a little bit Thursday, and then I decided I’m going to be a Vol.”

He’s the latest big-time pledge for Jones, who has quietly put together a class that is rated No. 3 overall in the country.

Abernathy is a major pull for the Vols for a number of reasons. 

For starters, he's the seventh metro-Atlanta area recruit who has pledged to the Vols in this cycle. That's a huge presence for an out-of-state school in one of the most talent-laden hotbeds in the country.  

Player	Position	Rank	Hometown
Preston Williams	WR	5-star	Hampton
Alvin Kamara	RB	4-star	Norcross
Micah Abernathy	CB	4-star	Norcross
Andrew Butcher	DE	4-star	Alpharetta
Venzell Boulware	OL	3-star	Fairburn
Quay Picou	DL	3-star	Buford
Austin Smith	LB	3-star	Buford

Three of those players, Abernathy included, are among the state's top 25 prospects in the 2015 class.

At 6'1", 187 pounds, Abernathy has the size and the athleticism necessary to contribute in a secondary that will have to replace senior starter Justin Coleman next season. 

While he's still raw at the corner position, it's hard to ignore the physical tools he brings to the table, as Barton Simmons, the 247Sports director of scouting, told Callahan (subscription required): “Micah is the type of player whose best football is in front of him. Athletically, he’s got all the tools you want in a big SEC cornerback. He’s got elite size. He can really run. He’s physical. He’s athletically elite. He’s just raw and relatively inexperienced at the cornerback position."

However, the largest impact of his decision coincides with the ability of Jones and his staff to go into the Peach State and beat out a power such as Georgia for a player the Bulldogs coveted.

Considering the struggles that Tennessee's program has endured over the last decade, victories such as this one on the recruiting trail are taken as signals that the days of being an afterthought in the SEC East are coming to an end soon.

“For this to be a kid that Georgia wanted and for Tennessee to come in and go head-to-head, weekend-to-weekend on official visits and beat the Dawgs, I think that really is a testament to where the Tennessee program is," Simmons said.

With Tennessee's class making noise on the national scene, the buzz surrounding the Vols program is clearly a positive factor with a number of the nation's top recruits. 

By landing studs such as Abernathy, Jones and his staff are sending a message to the nation and the rest of the SEC that the Vols program is one that is on the rise.

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @SanjayKirpalani