Baylor outfielder Gunnar Ricketts became the second area baseball player to commit to the University of Tennessee in the past week.
Ricketts, who committed to UT earlier this week, joins East Hamilton shortstop/pitcher Nick Woods.
McCallie pitcher/outfielder Corbin Brooksbank, another sophomore, committed to Vanderbilt last month.
"I grew up loving Tennessee. I guess you could say I was born into it," Ricketts said after visiting the Vols on Monday. "Coach (Dave) Serrano basically told me what they liked about me, said I would fit in perfectly with the program and then offered the scholarship."
Ricketts had been talking with Michigan State, Lipscomb, Tennessee Tech, ETSU, Austin Peay and MTSU. The recruiting heated up after he was clocked at 6.42 seconds in a 60-yard dash at a camp earlier this year in Fort Myers, Fla.
UT was the first to offer, and Ricketts considered more than just being a lifelong Vols fan when making his decision. He talked with summer league coach Brandon Turner, the former All-Southeastern Conference player at Mississippi State who owns Turner Baseball Academy and heads up Exposure Baseball.
"I talked with Brandon a lot, along with my parents, and he reminded me that not many people get to play at the SEC level," Ricketts said.
Ricketts, whose father and brother played at Soddy-Daisy, was among Baylor's leaders this past season. He led the team with 29 runs scored, a pair of triples, two home runs and 35 hits. He finished the year with a .392 batting average, a .492 on-base percentage and a .527 slugging percentage.
"Gunnar is a left-handed hitter who hits with power to all fields. He batted leadoff for us. He has good speed and is a very good baserunner," said Gene Etter, who retired following the 2015 season after more than 40 years coaching the Red Raiders. "Gunnar has a great attitude and work ethic. It was a privilege coaching this fine young man."
Ricketts said he would long remember playing for Etter.
"It was definitely an unbelievable experience," Ricketts said. "Coach Etter knows so much about the game and he taught me so much."
His primary influence, though, is his dad, Shane, who turned down SEC offers and a chance to go play in the Kansas City Royals' system for a year in junior college with hopes of going higher in the annual player draft.
While that didn't work out he blew out his shoulder before the next draft he has shared his knowledge with sons Caden and Gunnar.
"He has thrown (batting practice) to me anytime I've asked," Gunnar said. "He's coached me since I was 3 years old. Even now, if I'm struggling with batting we'll go to the cage and work till we fix it."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.