Tennessee football rounds out its 2025 recruiting class with a belated Early Signing Day commitment from "the best offensive lineman in the country," according to ESPN's Paul Finebaum.
Five-star plus offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. officially signed with Tennessee on Thursday, one day after National Early Signing Day. The announcement was made official by both Sanders and Tennessee football.
He kept fans on social media after the elite lineman kept them on the edge of their seats over the past 24+ hours, but he made the announcement official when he joined Paul Finebaum on the Paul Finebaum Show.
The best OL in the entire country @DavidLSandersJr is heading to Rocky Top. @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/RGxc7NKgox
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) December 5, 2024
According to On3 Recruiting, Sanders is the No. 6 player in the country, the No. 1 offensive lineman, and the No. 1 player out of North Carolina. At the end of the season, Ohio State was heavily recruiting him, but he's heading to Rocky Top to begin his college football career.
He mentioned that a big reason he chose Tennessee was its commitment and loyalty to him throughout the recruiting process.
“Tennessee has been in it from the very beginning. They offered me as a freshman in high school, and they’ve been kind of on me every year since then — expressing to me that I was a priority in their class and a must-get for the class of 2025,” Sanders told Finebaum.
Despite the rumors swirling around the program, especially after Tennessee lost a four-star commit to Florida, Sanders eased Tennessee fans' nerves after learning he wasn't signing off on Wednesday for Early Signing Day.
The Vols will hold down its spot at No. 10 in the country in this year's recruiting class rankings. Tennessee is No. 7 in the SEC, with Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Texas A&M all finishing inside the top ten.