Vanderbilt football gets commitment from Hillsboro offensive lineman Donald Fitzgerald

Hillsboro senior offensive tackle Donald Fitzgerald recently finished his first and last season of high school football.

That was all Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason needed to see.

On Sunday, the 6-foot-9, 280-pound Nigeria native with just five months of football experience and not a single recruiting “star” committed to play football for the Commodores. By Monday afternoon, he was ranked the state’s 49th-best prospect with three stars by 247Sports.

“As soon as I started playing in the summer, (colleges) were looking at me and told me they would keep up with me,” Fitzgerald said. “Vanderbilt was really the first. Coach Mason and (offensive line coach Cameron) Norcross said they would be watching my development over the season … I think they saw my work ethic.”

Fitzgerald, who garnered All-Region 6-5A honors for the Class 5A quarterfinalist Burros, will sign with the Commodores during the early signing period, which begins Dec. 19.  

“Coach Mason said, ‘I’m going to really watch him, take my word,’” said Hillsboro football coach Maurice Fitzgerald, who adopted Donald a little over four years ago. “A lot of people wanted him to go to prep school, but people at Vanderbilt said, ‘If he goes to prep school, we might not get him back.’

“I believe they will really take their time and develop him, and he’s looking forward to being redshirted.”

Fitzgerald, a former basketball standout at Stratford (2015-17) and Hillsboro (2017-18), packed on close to 40 pounds of muscle last summer in preparation for football season.

“Transitioning (from basketball) was hard,” said Fitzgerald, who plans to study microbiology at Vanderbilt. “It started off in the summer, being in the weight room with the football players. We went at it and I gained 40 more pounds."

He started out on defense before landing at offensive tackle.

"I started out at defensive end, but it wasn’t the place for me," he said. "Playing left tackle just felt like home. I started learning the plays, learning how to pass set and stuff. It was tough at first, but I got used to it.”

Fitzgerald marks the Commodores’ 19th commitment in the Class of 2019 and the fourth from Tennessee, joining Pearl-Cohn wide receiver Jayden Harrison, Whitehaven athlete Devin Boddie and Christian Brothers defensive end Christian James.

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.

Recruiting:Tennessee high school football commitments for the Class of 2019