Tennessee added ESPN 300 linebacker Henry To’oto’o to its recruiting class Wednesday. To’oto’o chose the Vols over Alabama, Utah, USC and Washington and gives Tennessee 10 ESPN 300 commitments in the class.
“Just talking to coach [Jeremy] Pruitt and how he’s going to change things around there,” To’oto’o said. “Having a close relationship with him and relationships with everybody down there, it just felt good.”
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker out of De La Salle high school in Concord, California, is ranked No. 47 overall in the ESPN 300 and is the No. 4 ranked outside linebacker in the class.
With To’oto’o committing to an out-of-state school, he’s following a trend in the 2019 class with nine of the top-10 recruits from the state of California leaving the state and 24 of the 33 ESPN 300 prospects from California have now signed with schools outside the state.
To’oto’o said he is fully comfortable travelling across the country to Tennessee for his education and despite coming to his decision on Monday, two days before signing day, he knows he has made the right decision.
“My family raised me, that family is forever and I’ll always have them, so I should be able to push myself and do new things,” To’oto’o said. “My dad always tells me to get out of my comfort zone.”