After signing with Tennessee in February, former Wildcat Jabo Lee announced on Twitter last Wednesday, July 24, that he would not be playing for the Vols this year after all.

Lee had originally verbally committed to play for East Carolina but changed his mind just before signing day to go with his first choice, Tennessee. “Tennessee was always my dream school,” he said on signing day, and added that he thought he would have a bigger chance to be successful with the Vols.

Though no official statement was released until Thursday, it appears that the UT coaches had not been expecting him to report to Knoxville this summer. Although Lee is academically eligible to play in the NCAA, there was some speculation that he did not meet the requirements of the academic formula that Tennessee requires for their athletes.

Lee said in a statement that he felt that the knee injury he suffered in his senior year might also be a factor that ended his plans with Tennessee. Lee was sidelined for most of his senior season after surgery to repair the injury, and may require another surgery on his knee. If Lee had continued with the Vols, he would have likely been redshirted this season.

Also, Tennessee running backs coach Jay Graham, who made the last minute push for Lee to sign with the Vols, left the team a month later to join the Florida State coaching staff.

But Lee remains certain that he will be attending a 4-year school in the fall. He still has offers from Temple, Nebraska, Colorado, Colorado State, South Carolina State, and Appalachian State. He said he was likely to make a decision in the next few days.

Lee spent most of his senior year sidelined with his knee injury, but managed to rush for 139 yards on 23 carries, averaging six yards. His longest run was 50 years in the season opener against Pageland.

In his first three years with the Wildcats, Lee caught 23 passes for 342 yards and six touchdowns and made 11 kickoff returns for 384 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed 461 times for 4,070 yards and 52 touchdowns and returned 16 punts for 367 yards and four touchdowns.

In 2010, he broke his cousin Stan Manning’s school record for most touchdowns in a single season, scoring 30 touchdowns for 180 points. He averaged 53.5 yards per kickoff return that season, returning six kicks for 321 yards and three touchdowns.

Lee apologized to Vol fans on his Twitter account and added that “God works in mysterious ways,” and that it happened for a reason. “Just know this is only the beginning. All respect to Tennessee.”