Prominent FCS cornerback adds Tennessee offer to transfer portal.

Tennessee has entered the competition for a cornerback who was added to the NCAA transfer portal on Monday by a Football Championship Subdivision school. Syeed Gibbs, a redshirt freshman cornerback for Rhode Island this season, revealed on his X account on Tuesday morning that he received a scholarship offer from the Vols.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Gibbs, a former standout player at Everett (Mass.) High School, redshirted in 2022 at Rhode Island, playing in just four games before contributing more to the Rams this season. Over the course of 10 games, he recorded 52 tackles (including three for loss), three interceptions, and three pass breakups.

He was just selected to the Freshman All-America Team by FCS Football Central. He is still eligible for three seasons.

Gibbs has received offers from Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Boston College, Appalachian State, Western Kentucky, Liberty, Connecticut, and Massachusetts since formally registering on the transfer portal on Monday. He declared on Wednesday that he intended to add his name to the transfer portal on Monday when it became available to all players who were underclassmen.

Last week, Gibbs wrote on his X account, “First and foremost, I want to thank Rhode Island for the opportunity to play D1 ball.” “After much consideration, I’ve decided I will be officially entering the transfer portal on December 4th with 3 years of eligibility left.”

Before committing to Rhode Island in February 2022, Gibbs had offers from Lehigh, Maine, Dartmouth, Merrimack College, and Bryant University after graduating from high school. In the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2022 class, he received no rating from 247Sports.

After two of the Vols’ senior cornerbacks recently added their names to the transfer portal, Tennessee is looking to bolster its depth at the position and maybe add a proven veteran who can contribute right away. Senior cornerback Warren Burrell of Tennessee registered in the transfer portal on Thursday afternoon as a graduate transfer. On Monday, Burrell was joined in the transfer portal by fellow senior cornerback Brandon Turnage, a former Top247 prospect and transfer from Alabama.

Senior Kamal Hadden, another starting cornerback for the Vols this season, is also playing in his last year of eligibility. After having surgery in late October to fix a shoulder injury sustained on October 21 during Tennessee’s loss to Alabama, Hadden missed the remainder of the season.

Doneiko Slaughter and Gabe Jeudy-Lally, two more senior cornerbacks for Tennessee, have not yet disclosed their plans for the upcoming campaign. The 2020 season was declared a free year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Slaughter and Jeudy-Lally each have an extra year of eligibility that they could use to return the following season.