Our odds on the first Vandy Ten

With the release of the Vandy Ten, I thought I'd share what could be the odds on Vanderbilt securing commitments from the prospects on the first list.

Note that last year, only one player, Wesley Johnson, that was on the first Vandy Ten, eventually signed with the Commodores. Johnson was our No.1 ranked prospect in that first edition, FWIW. On the second edition, Blake Southerland appeared, so at least two prospects from the first two editions of the V10, ended up at VU. Not great results, but not terribly bad either.

Here's our thoughts and odds on the first 10 guys to make the list:

Barry Bostic
Georgia Tech is believed to hold a slight lead but he apparently had a very good visit to VU during the junior day. He was decked out in Vanderbilt gear and apparently made a good impression on the people he met, including other prospects. Who knows if he can leave Georgia, since UGA will likely be interested soon and there's increased pressure for Georgia kids to go to Tech now that Paul Johnson's there, but don't ever count out the Commodore staff for Georgia kids. They've shown that they can land some solid talent from the state.

Our odds on a VU commit: Slightly above average at this time.

Max Garcia
That Alabama offer makes you wonder about Garcia, but he seems pretty interested in Vanderbilt and apparently he really likes Robbie Caldwell. We're hoping to talk to him soon to get a better gauge on his overall interest, but even people in Georgia say that he's really interested in Vanderbilt.

Our odds on a VU commit: Slightly above average at this time.

Jay Hughes
Superb athlete, a guy that VU really hopes to get on campus and impress. However, the fact that his father is at Mississippi State, just seems like he's probably going to end up sticking with family because family almost always wins out with small town kids.

Our odds on a VU commit: Average right now.

Travis Jackson
We had a good conversation with Jackson recently and feel that he really liked Coach Caldwell, the city of Nashville and certainly the school. He also liked the SEC aspect of playing at VU. We think the main challengers will end up being Northwestern and Stanford. Northwestern was the first to offer and his teammate Davon Custis signed there in February. And he's going to really value Stanford's academic profile. Maybe if a Michigan or Ohio State steps in, things could change, but it just seems like he'll ultimately pick between VU, Northwestern and Stanford. We think the odds are good.

Our odds on a VU commit: Slightly above average at this time.

Matt James
James recently stated that VU was among the top schools he was looking at, and he visited Nashville recently. VU has had many ties to St.Xavier in the past, so we think the possibility is definitely there. However, there's some pretty solid programs that VU's going up against and with our experience in this, those programs haven't even started to put on their full court press yet. So VU has a better shot than some, but it still might be less than some of those schools like Ohio State, Florida, FSU and Notre Dame.

Our odds on a VU commit: Average to slightly below at this time.

Rashad Knight
Knight seems pretty interested in VU and we know that there's a buzz down in Florida about Knight and VU. However, Florida State could mess this all up if they offer and of course, Illinois does have a connection with him as one of their assistant coaches, coached his dad in high school down in Florida. Still, we firmly believe VU's odds are above average.

Our odds on a VU commit: Above average to high above average at this time.

Shakim Phillips
Phillips would be a crown jewel to the VU staff since they want more WR's in this recruiting class and he could be quite the weapon in VU's system. That's something he's really looking for, to be used immediately. He has also said that he really likes the SEC and is listening to everyone in the conference. Problem is, from our point of view, ever since receiving his offer, he has barely said anything about VU..even though they are a SEC school and do offer that immediate PT. We know that he's still in contact with the school, so that's why he made the V10. However, his lack of discussing VU lately is not a positive to us.

Our odds on a VU commit: Slightly below average.

Nolen Smith
Smith has high interest in VU and being the first to offer really helps as well. We've been unable to talk to him about his visit to VU recently but we he heard it was a real good experience for him. Still, with Alabama and Auburn apparently very interested, we won't be surprised if they pop up with offers and make things hard on VU.

Our odds on a VU commit: Above average at this time.

James Stone
Stone's been to VU about four times that we know of and everytime, the kid is smiling, listening and seems at home on campus. We've seen other local prospects be this way, like Wesley Johnson, Wesley Tate and Thad McHaney, but at the same time, we did also see Zach Rogers, Golden Tate, Dont'a Hightower and Todd Campbell look pretty comfortable too in the past. So we can't just go on how he seems when we are able to see him around the staff and players at VU. Make no mistake about it, VU's going to try their hardest to get Stone in the program, but so will teams like Alabama, UTK, Notre Dame and even LSU. So we'll see how this works out. We do think VU's in the "good boat" right now.

Our odds on a VU commit: Above average at this time.

Kyle Woestmann
Woestmann has been to VU a couple of times and seems like he's already a part of the program. He loves the school, loves the idea of playing DLine, has friends on campus that don't even play football, it really seems like he's going to be in the Black and Gold. The only question we have is why isn't he already committed? With Georgia offering his teammate Brandon Burrows recently, it wouldn't be surprising if Woestmann lands an offer. Especially considering that he kind of reminds us of a David Pollack [though his game seems destined to play on the inside of the line]. However, we think if any of these 10 are going to commit to VU anytime soon, it would be Woestmann.

our odds on a VU commit: High above average at this time.