Will Ignont to Tennessee: Volunteers Land 4-Star ILB Prospect

The Tennessee Volunteers added a potential bellwether for their defense in a few years Wednesday, securing the commitment of inside linebacker Will Ignont, according to his Twitter account: 

"

Vol for Life 落 pic.twitter.com/D42LZ5cfs9

— RiP JiGG! (@WillIgnont) October 27, 2016"

Ignont is the 12th-best player at his position in the 2017 recruiting class, per Scout.

Size is one of the things that immediately jumps off the page when you take a look at Ignont. Scout lists him at 6'2" and 232 pounds. The Opening's Twitter feed showed off his massive biceps in a photo posted on Feb. 22:

Because of his physically imposing frame, it's impossible to miss Ignont when you watch some of his highlights:

By the time Ignont arrives in Knoxville, he will have benefited from spending a year at the IMG Academy. According to Josh Bean of AL.com, Ignont transferred to the Florida-based boarding school during his junior year so that he could graduate in December 2016 rather than waiting until spring 2017.

He also discussed some of his motivation for making the move to IMG.

"Everybody on the team is a good athlete," Ignont said, per Bean. "Being one among other good players, maybe even some players better than me, it will push me to be the best player I can be."

Under the watchful eye of the coaches and specialists he'll interact with in Bradenton, Florida, Ignont should grow not only as a player but also as an athlete. The former will be particularly important considering he can be somewhat slow to diagnose how a play is unfolding.

Patience isn't a bad thing for a defender to have, but Ignont is almost patient to a fault at times on the field. He can compensate for that problem in high school by virtue of his physical tools. He won't get away with it nearly as often in college.

Especially since he'll likely have a variety of duties with Tennessee, it will be important for Ignont to act quickly and decisively after the snap; otherwise, he'll take himself out of plays completely.

As long as his on-field IQ improves, Ignont should become a good inside linebacker. He can drop back in pass coverage and defend the run, and his impressive speed allows him to cover a lot of space quickly.

Between his transfer to IMG and desire to enroll early in college, Ignont has shown he's committed to becoming a better player. As long as that commitment carries through to the next few years, he'll become one of the best players to come from Tennessee's 2017 class.