Teams celebrate verbal commitments, but, in some cases, a prospect’s recruitment isn’t truly wrapped up until he signs his Letter of Intent and sends it to his college of choice. Carnell Tate appears to be one of those prospects.

Tate, a 4-star wide receiver rated in the top-60 overall recruits on the 247Sports composite rankings, committed to Ohio State over Tennessee and others on June 20. On3 recruiting expert Chad Simmons, however, says the Vols remain in contact with Tate and are trying to flip his commitment.

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Tate’s recruitment was discussed on the “Simmons Scoop” Wednesday:

“At one time, I thought (Tate) was a Tennessee lean, but went back towards Ohio State late before committing to the Buckeyes earlier this summer. Don’t think he is done just yet. There’s some chatter, some buzz behind the scenes that the communication has picked back up with the coaching staff in Knoxville.

“At one time, I was probably about 80 percent sure that Tate was going to end up at Tennessee. He has that connection with [Ohio State receivers coach] Brian Hartline. Ohio State obviously has produced wide receivers. He’s from the Midwest, Chicago area. He’s close friends with (5-star Ohio State wide receiver commit) Brandon Inniss. There’s a lot that helps Ohio State here, and he’s still committed. Nothing has changed, nothing’s happened there. But there has been more talk, at least according to my sources, between Tennessee and Carnell Tate.

“Definitely, something to watch. We know he’s close to (Tennessee commit) 5-star QB commit Nico Iamaleava, and the two are in strong communication. He knows other commitments there in this Tennessee class. I’m not saying anything is imminent, but I think you have to keep an eye on Carnell Tate as we progress through the season and close in on the Early Signing Period. Tennessee is in this, and they were at one time viewed, in my opinion, as the frontrunner. He’s committed to Ohio State, and they’re now the leader. But keep an eye on the Tennessee Vols.”

It sounds like Ohio State will need to keep recruiting Tate right up until December’s Early Signing Period to land his signature.