Saginaw standout chooses Vols over projected favorites MSU, USC
SAGINAW -- Forty-one colleges and universities took their shot, but in the end, only one would claim the coveted prize of Saginaw's DeAnthony Arnett on their roster next season.
His final five choices were narrowed down to Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, California and Southern California. As he stood at the podium before family, friends, teammates, school faculty, and media, Arnette finally revealed his destination.
"Next fall...I'll be attending the University of Tennessee."
It was something of a surprise announcement from the senior wideout, as the Volunteers edged out both Michigan State and USC, who were projected to be the front-runners for Arnett's services.
Two of the biggest factors in his decision were his desire to attend college away from his home state of Michigan, and his relationship with Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley, who Arnett said recruited his family harder than he recruited him. Another determining factor was the opportunity to work with Tennessee wide receivers coach Charlie Baggett, who has worked with such legendary names over the years such as Andre Rison, Randy Moss and Cris Carter.
Arnett knows he broke a lot of hearts in East Lansing, but he was not about to shy away from contacting MSU head coach Mark Dantonio to break the disappointing news.
"I definitely will be calling him soon as this is over with and let him know," said Arnett. "But they got my e-mail though. I e-mailed them to let them know. So I'm definitely going to call him and make sure. That's not me, that's not my character. I'm gonna call and tell you thanks for recruiting me, and things like that. I'm not gonna be a guy where...I didn't pick this school, I'm not calling them to let them know I didn't pick them. That's not me at all."
"He was the homecoming king this year. All the kids voted for him because with a young man that's gotten the publicity that he's obtained, he's still very humble," added Arnett's head coach, Gary Lee. "And that's what so great about him, he's just a very likeable young man."
