Tennessee Vols predicted to land elite 2026 football recruit over the Ohio State Buckeyes

The Tennessee Vols have been on fire on the recruiting trail this month, and they could be on the verge of landing another key recruit at the end of the week. 

2026 four-star offensive lineman JB Shabazz will announce his commitment on Friday (July 11). 

Shabazz's final three schools are Ohio State, South Carolina, and Tennessee. 

On Tuesday, On3's Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons predicted that Tennessee will win the battle for Shabazz. 

"Our intel suggests the Vols are going to be tough to beat," noted Simmons. 

Shabazz, 6-foot-7/295 lbs from Kernersville, NC, is rated in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 29 offensive tackle in the nation and the No. 16 player in the state of North Carolina. 

VolQuest's Matt Ray explained on Tuesday during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone's Ramon and Will why he thinks the the Volunteers are well-positioned to land Shabazz. 

"JB Shabazz has not taken a lot of visits," said Ray. "He's not been a very vocal guy in his recruitment. But I think Tennessee really put their best foot forward in June during his official visit. I think they had already shown him a lot. I think he connected pretty well with (Vols offensive line coach) Glen Elarbee -- as Tennessee offered and he got to know [Elarbee] a little bit. And I think Tennessee's got a very realistic shot of landing JB Shabazz later this week.

"It's a recruitment that South Carolina is not going to go away in, and Ohio State is definitely a factor. But I think Tennessee has picked up some momentum here of late as there's been some really good conversation. I think the Vols are a very realistic option for JB Shabazz, and I don't know that I would have said that as much leading into June. I think there was always some hope that they could get him here and make the most of that visit. I think he was intrigued by Tennessee leading into that visit, but I think now Tennessee is very much a realistic contender to win out later this week for him."

Shabazz's commitment will be streamed on Instagram at 6:00 PM ET on Friday.