Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jul 11, 20223 min
The Stride Report has confirmed that former Texas runner Yaseen Abdalla will be transferring to Tennessee. Abdalla is expected to have three years of both cross country eligibility and indoor track eligibility remaining, as well as two years of outdoor track eligibility remaining.
Abdalla is a monumental pickup for a Tennessee program that is under new leadership with the recent introduction of Sean Carlson as the team's newest Director of XC.
The former Texas runner had a breakout year during the 2021-22 academic calendar. Last fall, Abdalla placed 9th of Cowboy Jamboree, 29th at Pre-Nationals, 20th at the BIG 12 XC Championships, 4th at the South Central Regional XC Championships and a surprisingly strong 32nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
On the track, Abdalla was not just as good, he was better.
The soon-to-be Volunteer ran fantastic marks of 3:57 (mile), 7:51 (3k) and 13:33 (5k). That 3k mark was actually run on a flat-track, meaning that Abdalla earned a conversion of 7:46, putting him at the NCAA #18 spot this past winter.
Abdalla's 5k personal best also came at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships where he took down Wesley Kiptoo en route to a major statement victory.
Abdalla would go on to the indoor national meet, splitting 3:55 on the anchor leg of Texas' DMR to take down Notre Dame, the pre-race title favorites, and win the national title in shocking fashion.
During the spring, Abdalla flexed his range even further, running 28:33 for 10,000 meters and winning the Penn Relays 5k. Unfortunately, his spring season would end up with an underwhelming showing at the West Regional Championships.
Outside of his not-so-great outdoor track season, which was still solid by most standards, Abdalla elevated his fitness to an entirely new level this year. Abdalla proved to be one of the most dynamic distance talents in the country and he often defeated some of the best runners in the NCAA.
However, Abdalla's move to Tennessee says more about the Volunteers than it does Abdalla. Sean Carlson continues to be one of the most successful coaches in the country when it comes to recruiting out of the transfer portal. Adding Abdalla to his Knoxville-based program dramatically shifts how we view the Volunteers.
Earlier this month, Tennessee added former Notre Dame runner Dylan Jacobs to their roster as a graduate transfer. However, Jacobs' alone would not have been able to revamp this squad.
But Abdalla now changes the narrative surrounding this Tennessee team. Jacobs and Abdalla are two proven All-Americans while Thiessen is an outside contender for the same honor if he has a good season this fall.
With three front-runners now leading this team, Tennessee's lack of cross country depth feels like less of a concern, although the second-half of their varsity lineup will still need to be addressed.
Does this mean that Tennessee could realistically contend for a national qualifying spot as a team? I don't know the answer to that question, but I imagine that my response would likely be different now than it was yesterday.
Abdalla's introduction to Knoxville also forces us to wonder if he is the last big-time transfer joining the Tennessee men this year or if there are other high-impact names on the way.
The versatility and turnover from Abdalla, when paired with Jacobs, also gives Tennessee an opportunity to be nationally competitive in the DMR, an event that Carlson has heavily emphasized during most indoor track seasons.