Ware, Jones will look elsewhere
Tennessee fired coach Bruce Pearl on Monday. And soon, the Volunteers will lose two top recruits.
Advertisement
Wesley Junior, the father of Kevin Ware has confirmed with Rivals.com that Ware has officially asked out of his National Letter of Intent with Tennessee. Ware is a 6-foot-4 combo guard out of Conyers (Ga.) Rockdale County High School.
"We are just waiting to see what (athletic director) Mike Hamilton is going to do," said Junior. "Hopefully he will get back with us soon with Kevin's release. Then we can start this thing over again."
Ware isn't the only Tennessee recruit who will start the recruiting process all over. Fellow four-star guard Chris Jones has also asked for his release.
Jones' former high school coach Jermaine Johnson of Memphis (Tenn.) Melrose High School confirmed with Rivals.com that Jones is now wide open in his recruitment.
"I just got off the phone with Mike Hamilton, and we want to be fair to him and listen to the new coach," said Johnson. "But we have asked for a release, and Chris is wide open now, especially with all the coaching changes that are going to take place."
Jones is the No. 39 ranked prospect in the Rivals150.
As for Ware, ranked No. 56 in the Rivals150, there is the possibility that Tennessee could retain him. But that possibility does seem slim.
"We will see who the next coach is and what the sanctions are, but more importantly Kevin wants to look at the other schools that didn't get a chance to recruit him because he was committed," Junior said.
[rl]