Oscar Smith High School in Chesepeake, VA is a national powerhouse that puts out D-I talent annually. Last year the VOLS signed LB Jerod Askew and was thought to be the leader for Evan Hailes, a 6'1-305 DT ranked 13th nationally at his position. UT not only led for Hailes signature, but was thought to be very, very close to committing to the VOLS.
"I want to go to Tennessee and Penn State because Tennessee has recruited me really hard and I've shown interest back. Penn State surprised me when they came in. I'm not one for first impressions. I like to wait and see who you are, but they were real with me the whole time and I'm liking them."
Hailes recently cut his list to a final 5 that includes Tennesse, Virginia Tech, Penn State, North Carolina State, and LSU. He says he is only taking 3 visits, to Virginia Tech, Penn State, and then UT on June 18th.
"Tennessee has a lot of the same questions, they have three defensive tackles coming in and already a commit for 2011. Meanwhile, that's a real big advantage for Penn State. They don't have any defensive tackle commits and the opportunity is screaming at me from Penn State. I don't want to wait till my sophomore year and burn it on the depth chart."
