McGruder commits to Vols, then wavers about his decision

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

For about 24 hours this past weekend, Lynn McGruder was a Tennessee Volunteer.

And the 6-2, 290-pound defensive tackle from Cheyenne High School, who earned second team USA Today All-America honors, still might wind up in Knoxville.

But sometime between giving Vols head coach Phil Fulmer a non-binding verbal commitment on Saturday morning and the kickoff of the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon, McGruder decided he wanted to reconsider his college choice.

"When Coach Fulmer called on Saturday morning, it felt right to say I was going to Tennessee," McGruder said on Sunday night. "The next thing I know I'm getting phone calls from newspapers back there asking me about my decision. But it was an immature decision. I hadn't really sat down and figured things out. And right now, it doesn't feel like the right decision."

So McGruder and legal guardian Hunkie Cooper, the former UNLV and current Arena Football League star with whom he lives with in North Las Vegas, and McGruder's mother, Lenice Mims of Palestine, Texas, were to have a conference call on Sunday night to go over the pros and cons of each of Lynn's schools.

"We're going to go over all five schools I visited," said McGruder, cleaning up after a Super Bowl gathering at Cooper's home. "We're going to redo the whole thought process. And when I do make a decision, I want to be able to sleep on it before I announce anything this time."

McGruder visited five schools: Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and UNLV.

"Right now they're all still in it," he said. "This is a huge decision to make for the rest of my life and I have to make sure it's the right one. ... There's a possibility I may not sign (a national letter of intent) on Wednesday."

The national signing period for high school seniors begins at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. However, there is no rule that a recruit must sign on the first day.

When McGruder told Tennessee coaches he may not sign on Wednesday, they didn't seem very pleased.

"They kind of got angry," he said. "They wanted to know why I wouldn't sign on Wednesday and stuff. But it's a big decision and I want to be absolutely sure."