Elite 2026 Wide Receiver Says Vanderbilt Is Program 'Catching His Eye'
It's time for Vanderbilt to hit the recruiting trail hard again.
After a wildly successful season in 2024, Clark Lea and his staff have to take advantage of this momentum and start bringing in some prospects who can become future stars of the program.
With the Commodores having an NIL setup that is competitive with other teams around the SEC, the only thing they have to battle when it comes to their standing in the conference is the lack of accomplishments they've had for a long period of time.
That's why going 7-6 and beating Georgia Tech in the bowl game was important.
And following that, it seems like there is at least one high-profile player who is starting to notice what Vanderbilt is doing on the football field.
According to Steve Wiltfong of On3, elite 2026 wide receiver Joel Wyatt told him the Commodores are one of the few programs "catching his eye" at this stage of his recruitment.
"Tennessee, LSU, Vandy, Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas A&M," he told the insider, while also noting that the Commodores, Volunteers, Tigers and Rebels are the ones he is most familiar with.
Perhaps the Vanderbilt connection has to do with the fact that he's an in-state product.
He's currently starring for The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, but the fact the Commodores are on the radar of a prospect who is ranked 35th in the 2026 class by On3 and No. 3 at his position is certainly notable.
At 6-foot-4 and 192 pounds, he would become the big-bodied wide receiver this program has been missing on the perimeter.
Wyatt spoke with Wiltfong about Vanderbilt and why the program is on his radar.
"What Coach Clark (Lea) is doing," he said. "It was a great year."
How everything shakes out on this front will be seen.
It's certainly an uphill battle with the other schools he's interested in, especially with him scheduling an upcoming visit to Tennessee this weekend and one with Ole Miss at the beginning of February.
