Tennessee football true freshmen standouts Jaedon Harmon and Travis Smith Jr. arrived on campus in January. With their preseason camp debut on deck next week, the two Georgia natives are already making a difference in the Knoxville community.
Harmon and Smith each donated $5,000 to the Wesley House Community Center in Knoxville during a presentation Wednesday afternoon.
The non-profit organization empowers and enriches lives with educational programs for youth and seniors in the community. In 2020, Wesley House continued to expand their service by establishing the Emerging Needs program to provide local citizens with food and clothes.
“I just wake up every day and think how blessed we are to play for Tennessee football,” Harmon said. “Thinking where I came from, some kids aren’t as fortunate as us, and they wake up and don’t even know what they are going to eat the next day. Anything to support them and help the community is what me and Trav intended to do.”
Harmon and Smith both connected with the organization initially during Tennessee football’s day of service in June. They followed up with frequent visits, building relationships with the staff and children and plan on continuing to donate their time to Wesley House.
“Just seeing kids excited about something to do for playing football makes you want to work even harder,” Smith said. “Being servants—it’s ok to help people out and help other organizations. I hope they look up to us as people who gave back, so when they are in a position once older, they can do it as well.”
Harmon, a native of Rome, Georgia, was a four-star linebacker out of Rome High School and one of the top 150 overall prospects in the country by ESPN. The 6-foot-3 Smith prepped at Westlake High School in Atlanta and was one of the top overall prospects in the state of Georgia and a top 10 national receiver. Both return to their home state for the Volunteers’ season opener against Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Game next month.
Multiple Volunteers have given back to the community this offseason. Cornerback Rickey Gibson III donated $5,000 back to his Hewitt-Trussville High School in May. Gibson enters his junior season as one of the SEC’s top cornerbacks in his second year as a starter.
Tennessee, coming off a 2024 College Football Playoff berth, opens its fifth preseason camp under head coach Josh Heupel on July 30.
