Tennessee is looking to land another top 10 recruiting class in 2027. With multiple top targets all across the country, high on the Volunteers, there will be a good chance for it. 

4-star Adryan Cole is one of those players. According to Rivals Industry, he ranked as the 20th-best safety in the country, the 24th-best player from Georgia, and the 214th-best overall player in the country. The safety from Douglas County High School in Douglassville, Georgia, has Tennessee amongst the top schools on its list, along with Georgia, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, LSU, Miami, Indiana, and Ole Miss.

Cole spoke with Vols on SI to see where Tennessee stands and what he likes about the Volunteers.

Adryan Cole on Tennessee Football

With all the defensive back coaching changes, there is a lot of uncertainty with some of the top defensive back prospects in the country, like Cole. However, Tennessee has done a great job of letting Cole know that he is wanted in Knoxville.

“The communication has been great, they have been calling me and facetime me 2-3 times a week every week. They just let me know that they want to get me up there and develop me.”

He does not have a visit set yet, but he is in the process of scheduling one and cannot wait to see a few things. He was at Georgia Tech this past weekend and has a visit scheduled to Ole Miss from June 19th-21st.

“I want to see the environment, I want to see how they coach their players, and I want to see how they (players and coaches) work together on the campus.”

The Volunteers are looking at a lot of the top defensive backs in the 2027 class, and landing Cole would be a huge recruiting win for them.

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NC State’s NCAA tournament started about as well as possible, with the Pack making its first eight shots from the floor on the way to taking a 19-4 lead. Zoe Brooks and Zam Jones had the offense rolling in those first five minutes—Zam played with her hair on fire from the start and ended up with one of the best performances of her career.

The Wolfpack needed it, too. The Volunteers responded well after their rough start and kept within striking distance but still found themselves down 11 at halftime. Tennessee created a lot of second-chance opportunities for itself throughout, and State ended up very fortunate that the Vols didn’t shoot better.

Things got tenuous very quickly in the third quarter, as the Pack started cold from the field and lost Brooks to a foot injury midway through the period. Wes Moore didn’t have any details to share after the game, but Brooks was obviously in a lot of pain. It’s more than a little worrying that the injury didn’t appear to have anything to do with contact, and she didn’t roll an ankle, either. But it’s not a knee injury, at least.

After Brooks departed, Tennessee pulled to within 48-46, and the game appeared to be turning in a bad way. Zam Jones had the answers, however, knocking down a critical three to calm the team down and making four free throws in the final minute to extend her team’s lead back to nine heading into the fourth. Tennessee would get no closer.

Zam was a menace throughout—en route to 30 points, she drew 12 fouls and shot 13 free throws. Led by those efforts, NC State went to the free throw line 20 times in the second half, which helped the Pack continue to put points on the board even when the shots weren’t falling, especially in the third.

That was a big difference in the final result—NC State leaned heavily on opportunities it created off the bounce, which led to 25 free throw attempts (and 21 makes). Tennessee’s M.O. is threes by the bushel and it ended up with 36 three-point tries in this one—but the Vols made just seven of them, and shot just six free throws.

While the Vols were dominant on the glass, State was just a lot more effective in the paint: the Pack made 57.5% of its twos, while the Vols made just 45.9%. So, in the end, State was able to weather its worst defensive rebounding effort of the season without all that much trouble.

It’s an excellent win and it would be really encouraging if it didn’t have Zoe’s injury hanging over it. NC State’s task now is beating No. 2 Michigan on its home floor Sunday, and maybe having to do it shorthanded.