KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's 2016 football roster included players from 16 states.
West Virginia wasn't one of them.
Riley Locklear changed that, though, when the offensive lineman joined the Volunteers earlier this month as one of five early enrollees.
"It's kind of a source of pride," the 6-foot-5, 290-pounder said last week, "because not a lot of kids from West Virginia get recruited. I can't take this opportunity lightly. I've got to represent the other kids from West Virginia the best that I can."
Despite its relative proximity to West Virginia - Locklear's hometown of Huntington is a little more than four hours from campus - Tennessee hasn't had a letter winner from the state since 2006.
According to Rivals.com's recruiting ratings, Locklear and Derrek Pitts, a defensive back from Charleston who enrolled at West Virginia this month, are the state's first four-star recruits since 2010. In some cycles, West Virginia didn't have a three-star prospect. Only three native West Virginians were on opening-week NFL rosters in 2016.
The state's most famous football product, of course, was wide receiver Randy Moss, who was a two-time All-American at Marshall and a four-time All-Pro with Minnesota and New England.
Locklear committed to the Vols in July after attending camps at Florida State, Ohio State and Tennessee and garnering scholarship offers from Penn State, North Carolina, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Oregon, South Carolina, West Virginia, Ole Miss and others.
"Whenever I came here on a visit, (offensive line) Coach (Don) Mahoney had called me and told me, he said, 'You're going to love it once you get down here,' and he was not lying at all," Locklear said. "I walked around. I saw the academic centers. I saw the facilities like this (Neyland Stadium) locker room.
"I saw the things that they do for their athletes, and whenever I saw what they were able to do with their athletes, I was like, 'This could be it.' Whenever I made my final decision, it was kind of like a weight lifted off my shoulders, because I knew that I could come in with Coach (Butch) Jones and Coach Mahoney."
Locklear certainly carries himself like a proud West Virginian. There's a country twang to his voice. In addition to playing basketball at Spring Valley High School, he was also on the school's bass-fishing team and already tried to find and sign up for Tennessee's fishing club, though plenty of his new teammates gladly will help him continue the hobby.
On the field, Locklear believes he has the kind of disposition and demeanor needed to play on the offensive line.
"You have to, and that's something that I have," he said. "Sometimes I can have a little bit of a mean streak. Usually I try to keep my composure and stay calm whenever I'm playing football. That way I can play smart and effective."
As for what can trigger the mean streak, Locklear politely declined to divulge.
"I don't want to give it away," he said, smiling.
Locklear played mostly tackle in high school, but his initial plan with the Vols is to work at multiple positions - likely guard and tackle - as many of Tennessee's offensive linemen often do.
"I'm going to work at a couple different spots," he said. "That way, whenever the time comes that I need to be able to come in, I can play multiple different positions."
Once he considered the benefits, Locklear said getting a head start on his college career was an "easy decision," and he's excited to get to work with his new team.
"That's huge, especially for linemen, whether it's offensive line or defensive line," he added. "That development time and gaining that weight and becoming stronger and developing that technique, whether it's run or pass game, is huge."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.