4-star WR Amari Jefferson announces top six schools

Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor School four-star wide receiver Amari Jefferson has been committed to Tennessee for baseball since June 21, 2021. Since then, his profile as a football recruit has risen greatly.

After notching nearly 20 offers, Jefferson has cut his list down to six. Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee are his finalists.

“I think I have an order in my head, but I am going into these OVs with an open mind and not necessarily looking at one better than the other,” Jefferson told On3. “I’m excited for all three that are happening this summer and then hopefully, I can get one with Miami and maybe South Carolina in the fall. I’m really going into these officials with an open mind and see what they offer and how they go.”

Jefferson will be at Alabama on June 9, Georgia on June 16 and Tennessee on June 23. Meanwhile, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound wideout hopes to take an official to Miami early in the fall.

Right now, Jefferson feels like he has a great relationship with all six schools. He visited five of his finalists this spring.

“I think these official visits are pretty big for me,” said Jefferson, the No. 256 overall prospect and No. 44 wide receiver in the 2024 On300. “They’re not only big for me, but me and my parents because we’ll get a lot of questions answered. With me being a dual-sport athlete, I’ll be able to meet both sides of the different programs and see a plan of how they could see me fitting with doing both throughout the course of me being at the university.

“I do think these official visits will be big, as far as that aspect, and then also, it will be furthering our relationship with the coaching staff and getting to know some more of the players.”

Jefferson breaks down his top six schools

Alabama and Georgia: “Alabama has been doing it for 20-plus years and Kirby (Smart) is a product of Nick Saban. You can just tell the way Kirby runs his program, it’s very similar to how Nick Saban runs his program at Alabama. That’s why they’re two of the best programs in the country right now. They are very similar.”

“Those schools have produced receivers the last couple years,” he added. “Alabama, you have all the first round picks they produce. Georgia has all the great receivers they’ve produced in the last couple years. That’s a big eye-opener for me.”

Miami: “I have a great relationship with coach (Mario) Cristobal and the receivers coach, coach (Kevin) Beard, over at Miami. I was waiting to see how my visit would go at Miami cause I felt good about how my relationship was going with them. I talked to multiple people over there and then my multi-day visit, it was pretty special and I knew that they would probably be in my top schools after it.”

Oklahoma: “I’ve been very interested in OU for a long time. I plan to take an unofficial visit there sometime this June. I’ve been talking with coach (Emmett) Jones a good bit and I’m excited about seeing where things can go with Oklahoma.”

South Carolina: “They’ve just been consistent the whole time. The love they’ve shown me and my family as soon as they offered me back in November, they’ve been recruiting hard ever since then. They’ve been there every day. Coach (Justin) Stepp has come to multiple of my baseball games. The OC (Dowell Loggains) has come to see me, like a whole bunch of people from South Carolina have come to see me.

“They’re really showing that I’m a priority for them in this class. That’s the thing that’s always stuck out about South Carolina, it’s how consistent they are. Shane Beamer‘s texting me multiple times a week.”

Tennessee: “Tennessee’s unique in how they’re doing their thing up there cause (Josh) Heupel hasn’t been there for that long. But it’s effective and it’s worked in my recruitment. I have a great relationship with the staff. I think they’re building their program up to be among the elite programs in the country. They have a young coaching staff and I could definitely see them trending and starting to get towards that elite level.”