KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee's large football recruiting class is continuing to grow.
The highly ranked group actually got much bigger Monday.
Charles Mosley, a 345-pound lineman from Brighton High School outside of Memphis, became the Volunteers' 34th commitment for the 2014 class Monday afternoon.
"I'm officially committed to the University of Tennessee," Mosley, a four-star prospect according to 247sports.com, posted on his Twitter account shortly after making the announcement at a ceremony at his school.
Mosley has maintained publicly that the Vols were his leader for months, so his commitment was hardly a surprise. Yet he still found a unique way of announcing his choice: He had a checkerboard pattern, colored orange and white, styled into each side of his head with "UT" on one half and "Vols" on the other.
Mosley's other finalists were Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, and his scholarship offer list included Georgia and Vanderbilt. He made multiple visits to Knoxville during the season and wore an orange jacket on his official visit for the Vanderbilt game.
The Vols, who landed another top in-state recruit in Station Camp receiver Josh Malone last week, recruited Mosley as a defensive tackle, though he also could play on the offensive line as a guard. Mosley, a two-way player for Brighton, was a finalist for the Class AAA Mr. Football lineman award, which went to Oakland's Jack Jones, who's committed to the Vols' 2015 class.
Tennessee is losing six senior defensive linemen, including its top three defensive tackles, heading into next season, but Mosley will face the typically tough transition for a freshman lineman. Freshman ends Malik Brown and Kendal Vickers redshirted this season, and tackle Jason Carr and end Jaylen Miller played in just three games.
Corey Vereen was the only defensive lineman Tennessee signed in 2013 who played his way into the line rotation.
Duo to Senior Bowl
Two Tennessee players will play in a bowl game after all.
Right tackle Ja'Wuan James and defensive tackle Daniel McCullers accepted invitations to the Senior Bowl on Monday. The annual game and the week of practices leading up to it is one of the more important pre-draft showcases for college seniors. This year's game is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. in Mobile, Ala.
James, who started all 49 games of his Vols career, had a solid season for a Tennessee offensive line that paved the way for the Vols' highest season total for rushing yards (2,261) in a season since 2004. The 6-foot-6, 318-pounder elected to stay for his senior season and improved his stock.
At 6-8 and 350 pounds, McCullers is an intriguing prospect for NFL personnel to evaluate, and the big tackle may have the most to prove of any player at the Senior Bowl. McCullers finished this season with 33 tackles and 4.5 for loss.
After his best game of the year against South Carolina (six tackles, 2.5 for loss), McCullers had 13 tackles, none for loss, in Tennessee's final five games for a disappointing finish to his second and final year with the Vols.
All-SEC selections
Tennessee had four players selected to the Associated Press All-SEC team released Monday. A.J. Johnson was voted to the first team; offensive tackles James and Antonio "Tiny" Richardson, who announced Friday he will enter the NFL draft after his junior season; were named to the second team; and Michael Palardy earned honorable mention as a punter.
The Vols had six players -- Johnson (first); James and Richardson (second); and McCullers, guard Zach Fulton and center James Stone (third) -- named to the preseason All-SEC teams at the league's media days in July.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.