KNOXVILLE -- The second time around was much easier and less stressful for Alvin Kamara.
What didn't change for the Tennessee running back was his recruiting rating.
A year after he was a four-star recruit coming out of Norcross High School in the Atlanta area, Kamara was a four-star prospect -- Rivals.com and Scout.com bumped him up to five-star status -- coming out of junior college.
What did change for the player who will add another dynamic option offensively for the Volunteers this fall is how he approached all of it.
"This time, I came to it with a more mature approach," Kamara said after Tennessee's practice Saturday in Neyland Stadium, "just knowing the right things to look for, what to kind of discredit, what to really just focus on more than anything.
"With my decision to come to Tennessee, I feel like it was a solid decision and it was made for the right reasons."
Rated as one of the nation's top all-purpose backs in the 2013 recruiting class, Kamara was coveted by a who's who list of the nation's big-time programs. Florida State, Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, Florida, Southern California -- and so on. Ultimately, Alabama beat out Georgia for his services.
Kamara announced his decision to sign with the Crimson Tide live on ESPNU on signing day.
"It got hectic, but you put in the work," he said. "It's deserved, but it gets out of hand with the social media and media calling you a lot. As a high school kid, you can get lost in it.
"I didn't get lost (last year)," he added. "I was like, 'Let me go ahead and get this over with,' then finally get to Tennessee."
After Kamara left Alabama following a tumultuous freshman season, Tennessee and Georgia were his lone suitors when he committed to the Vols last June, prior to a 1,211-yard, 18-touchdown season at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.
Since enrolling at Tennessee in January, Kamara has impressed teammates with his on-field ability and off-field drive. He missed a few practices earlier this month with a thigh bruise, but he returned this past week. Tennessee is expecting big things from the backfield tandem of Jalen Hurd and Kamara as it aims for bigger and better things in 2015.
"Any time you have a dynamic back, you notice when they're not there," quarterback Josh Dobbs said Saturday. "Obviously having Alvin back out here today was great. He definitely had some explosive runs. He breaks tackles and makes guys miss, so having Alvin in the backfield is great. Obviously Jalen having back there is great.
"I feel like our backs have done a great job of making plays for me."
Through his recruitment of Kamara, Vols running backs coach Robert Gillespie knew he was getting a player who would come in and get down to business.
"From day one, Alvin and I had a really good man-to-man relationship," Gillespie said earlier this spring. "It was different than just recruiting the average high school kid. He had been through the recruiting process before. It wasn't about what kind of gloves you have or all those things that high school kids worry about.
"This was a kid who had been to a big-time program and just wanted to have a comfort level with his position coach, that wanted someone to be honest with him, and that's what I gave him, and that's (why) I got a great feel for him as I recruited him.
"It's been the same since he's been here. He's had a no-nonsense attitude. He's been great in the training room, great in the weight room -- 'Yes, sir'; 'no, sir'; does everything you ask him to do. I'm not surprised at all that he's hit the ground running and developed a really good relationship with his teammates so far."
The opportunity for playing time -- Hurd is Tennessee's only returning running back -- was obvious, but Gillespie's approach with Kamara provided the player with what he was looking for his second time through the recruiting process, which didn't include "the extra" aspects of it that may have distracted him coming out of high school.
"Me and Coach G were on a different level," Kamara said. "He wasn't recruiting me like I was a high school kid. He was kind of recruiting me like I was an older guy. It was more man to man, just really a real relationship.
"I wouldn't say I was looking at the extra the first time coming out, but really I was just looking for a relationship with my position coach, and then getting around a group of guys as far as teammates and coaches that really want to win and have a genuine sense of winning and heading in the right direction.
"With Coach (Butch) Jones and Coach Gillespie, I feel like that's what I got out of them."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.