KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee should be set for a fairly straightforward national signing day.
And that's exactly how it transpired.
The Volunteers put the final touches on their 2017 recruiting on Wednesday morning by announcing 22 signees, who officially joined Tennessee's five January enrollees.
Here's a recap of the players the Vols added to the program on Wednesday.
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12:38 p.m.: Butch Jones announces a couple of preferred walk-ons, including Walker Valley's Cooper Melton, before introducing linebacker Will Ignont as "the last individual of the day."
So either Jones is pulling one over on everybody or Ray is going to Alabama. (It's the latter).
Ignont is the nation's No. 114 player according to 247sports, and Tennessee beat out the likes of Michigan, UCLA, LSU and Auburn to land him in October shortly after he visited for the Alabama game. Ignont once was silently committed to the Tide back in the spring.
He had 131 tackles and 22 tackles for loss as a senior.
12:31 p.m.: The only Tennessee commitment yet to send in his letter of intent is linebacker Will Ignont, who coincidentally is pictured above. There's no concern there and should be a matter of time before he's announced.
The Vols also are monitoring stud defensive end LaBryan Ray's announcement, which should be coming before the top of the hour. It would be stunning if the Alabama native picked anyone other than the Crimson Tide. But stranger things have happened.
12:03 p.m.: Mid-state defensive back Theo Jackson has signed with Tennessee out of Nashville's Overton High School.
Jackson chose Tennessee over LSU and Vanderbilt in June. Jackson, who intercepted five passes and earned regional defensive MVP honors as a senior, projects as a safety, though he could play anywhere in the secondary.
11:37 a.m.: Kickers are people, too.
And Brent Cimaglia is Tennessee's kicker in this class. The Frankin product flipped from his long-time commitment to Southern Mississippi after earning a Tennessee offer at a camp in Knoxville last summer. He's the No. 6 kicker nationally according to both 247sports and the respected Kohl's Kicking Camps.
The Vols' current kicker (Aaron Medley) and punter (Trevor Daniel) are both mid-state products.
11:34 a.m.: Trey Coleman, the third running back in Tennessee's class, has signed.
The West Monroe (La.) product ran for nearly 1,400 yards in both his junior and seasons and scored 22 rushing touchdowns for one of the state's top programs. In 2016 he had six 100-yard games and averaged more than 7 yards per carry. He also caught 10 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns.
Coleman picked the Vols in June over Arkansas and Mississippi State.
10:55 a.m.: Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes, roughly eight hours from arriving with the Vols back from Tuesday night's win at Auburn, announces the signing of Atlanta athlete Marquez Bembry.
Bembry was a two-way star for his small-school team, and he projects as a defensive end in college. What attracted the Vols was his speed. Bembry ran a 10.68-second 100-meter dash 21.93 in the 200 in the state track meet last May. He had 110 tackles and 20 sacks as a junior and committed to Tennessee, then added offers from Florida and Georgia. Bembry tore his meniscus in September.
10:37 a.m.: A quick follow-up on Jacquez Jones and his back story, one of those in which you like to see people overcome adversity and set themselves up for success.
Here's Jones's story, from theTampa Bay Times.
10:24 a.m.: Wide receiver Jacquez Jones and Jordan Murphy have signed with the Vols.
Murphy's signing is significant because there was a tinge of uncertainty about him after he quietly visited Ole Miss last weekend. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound exploded as a senior after picking the Vols over both Mississippi schools and some other SEC programs before the season.
Jones took January visits to Central Florida and South Florida, but the Clearwater (Fla.) product stuck with his long-time pledge to Tennessee.
10:19 a.m.: Tennessee's second running back has signed, and it's Tim Jordan from Florida.
The former Western Kentucky commitment committed to the Vols over North Carolina in January after rushing for more than 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns.
9:33 a.m.: It's worth noting when Maleik Gray's letter of intent came in from LaVergne High School in the mid-state it wasn't followed by Princeton Fant, Gray's teammate.
The wide receiver appears to be a blueshirt possibility and may not be announced by the Vols on Wednesday. Fant essentially hasn't played since his sophomore season due to a couple of knee surgeries after he tore his ACL in May 2015. There's no concern about him not ending up at Tennessee.
Usually if teammates are sending NLIs to the same school they are sent and announced together or consecutively.
9:24 a.m.: Staying in Tennessee, offensive lineman K'Rojhn Calbert has signed with the Vols.
Calbert is the definition of a project, but his upside is through the roof. He had minimal college interest before the summer because he'd barely played his first three years in high school due to multiple knee injuries, but he tore up the camp circuit in the summer.
Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina came calling, but he'll stay home and play for the Vols.
9:23 a.m.: LaTrell Bumphus from West Tennessee has signed with the Vols.
Bumphus committed to the Vols over Alabama and offers from Auburn, Florida, Oregon, Texas A&M, Penn State and USC.
His in-home and official visits from promoted offensive coordinator Larry Scott in January indicated he'd start on offense (he played defensive end, too), so the Vols announcing him as a tight end is no surprise.
Baylor's Daniel Monroe tries to bring down MBA's Ty Chandler in a game Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 at Baylor.9:15 a.m.: The star of Tennessee's class beyond Trey Smith is running back Ty Chandler, and he's signed with the Vols.
Chandler ran for 2,252 yards and 39 touchdowns as a senior en route to winning Mr. Football and playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He's a big play waiting to happen and put up huge numbers against good competition. In the past two state title games he had 218 yards and three touchdowns and 398 all-purpose yards with four scores as Montgomery Bell Academy lost nail-biters to rival Brentwood Academy.
Chandler's father, Chico, played at Ole Miss, and Tennessee beat out the Rebels, Ohio State and Auburn and the plenty of other premier programs that offered to land what should be an instant-impact player.
I'll have a feature on the humble, talented Chandler in Thursday's Times Free Press.
8:58 a.m.: Staying in Virginia, defensive tackle Eric Crosby has signed with the Vols.
A potential immediate-impact player, Crosby is a powerful inside defender who picked Tennessee over Virginia Tech last spring. He played running back in high school and had a 120-yard, four-touchdown game in a regional title game as a sophomore. His early offers included Ohio State, Florida State and Clemson.
Tennessee listed Crosby at 290 pounds, but he most certainly looks 300-plus pounds.
8:57 a.m.: Defensive end Ryan Thaxton out of Virginia is Tennessee's 10th signee.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound pass rusher chose the Vols in January over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Rutgers. He originally committed to Virginia.
8:48 a.m.: Safety Maleik Gray, a four-star prospect, has signed with Tennessee.
Gray, an Under Armour All-American, flirted with taking a late visit to Florida State. He grew up as a fan of the Seminoles and knew FSU cornerback Jalen Ramsey's family, but decided to stay home and chose Tennessee over Florida State, USC and Alabama in June.
Tennessee offered Gray all the way back in 2013. Might he grow into a linebacker?
8:43 a.m.: Tennessee's third cornerback commitment, Terrell Bailey, has signed.
The Vols were Bailey's second offer, and he committed in September from a top nine including Texas A&M, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Colorado and North Carolina. Bailey added a Notre Dame offer in January. Bailey isn't a burner, but he shows sound technique and plays physical in man coverage.
8:30 a.m.: One of Tennessee's hidden gems, tight end James Brown out of Florida, signed with the Vols. The converted quarterback had just one FBS offer (Massachusetts) when Tennessee offered in October. Brown then had late interest from Florida, Oregon, South Florida and Florida Atlantic, and Auburn also offered.
The versatile Brown caught 11 passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 170 yards and three scores on 15 carries and completed 16-of-19 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns in 2016.
8:20 a.m.: Cornerback Cheyenne Labruzza, a Louisiana product who picked Tennessee over the home-state LSU Tigers, has signed with the Vols.
It's rare for in-state players LSU wants to leave the state, but Tennessee pulled the trick with Labruzza, who could be one of the more underrated prospects in the class. Labruzza underwent knee surgery in October and called off a January visit to LSU.
8:12 a.m.: Tennessee's fifth signee is wide receiver Josh Palmer, a former Syracuse commitment.
Palmer is an interesting story. He's from Canada, but he moved to Florida to play at St. Thomas Aquinas to help his football future. His dad still lives in the Toronto area. Palmer caught just five passes for 30 yards as a junior, but he blew up for 32 catches, 506 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder chose Tennessee over UCLA and added a offer from Penn State and drew interest from Ohio State in January.
8:09 a.m.: Linebacker Solon Page III, Tennessee's fourth signee, might as well be Brian Randolph 2.0. Page played at the same high school (Kell in Marietta, Ga.). Like the former Tennessee safety he was named a Parade All-American after a standout senior season.
Also, like Randolph, Page was a mostly unheralded three-star prospect, and the Vols are expected they got on him early and landed him last spring.
8:08 a.m.: Legacy recruits were a big part of Tennessee's recent signing classes, and the Vols signed a premier Alabama legacy in defensive tackle Kivon Bennett, the son of former Crimson Tide All-American and NFL Pro-Bowler Cornelius Bennett.
Bennett played at Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, a three-time defending state champion. He was the MVP at a high school bowl game in which he had five tackles, three for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. His offer list included just about every major program in college football.
7:56 a.m.: Cornerback Shawn Shamburger has signed with Tennessee. The 5-foot-11, 188-pounder decommitted from Louisiana-Lafayette back in the summer as offers from Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss rolled in. Shamburger pledged to the Vols in November.
He considered a January visit to Georgia after racking up 51 tackles, five interceptions and two forced fumbles as a senior. It's the second straight year the Vols have signed a player from Colquitt County HS in Moultrie, Ga. Linebacker Ja'Quain Blakely redshirted this season.
7:30 a.m.: Tennessee's first signee of the morning is from North Carolina defensive lineman Matthew Butler, a Parade All-American who had an outstanding senior season before picking the Vols.
Butler had 96 tackles, 44 tackles for loss and 26 sacks as a senior. He picked Tennessee over South Carolina, Penn State, Texas A&M, N.C. State and Duke in December. His cousin, Anthony Richardson, played basketball at Tennessee in the 1980s.
Butler could grow into a defensive tackle, where he could be a quick-twitch player inside.
Tennessee's five football early enrollees pose inside Neyland Stadium after making their media debuts on Jan. 12, 2017. The newcomers are (left to right) defensive end Deandre Johnson, offensive linemen Riley Locklear and Trey Smith, quarterback Will McBride and linebacker Shanon Reid.EARLY ENROLLEES
The first official members of Tennessee's 2017 class have already been on campus for almost a month, and those freshmen were introduced to the media in January.
> The headliner of the class is offensive lineman Trey Smith, who provided Tennessee its biggest recruiting splash in early December when he picked the Vols over Alabama and Ohio State.
Now that his Tennessee career is underway, the five-star prospect, the No. 1 recruit in the country according to ESPN, is starting to deal with a different kind of pressure.
> Fellow offensive lineman Riley Locklear is bringing a West Virginia flavor to the Vols.
> Linebacker Shanon Reid has big shoes to fill based on choice of jersey number, but he also has an interesting back story coming from South Florida.
> Deandre Johnson could provide immediate help as a pass-rusher, but he first needs to get bigger and stronger, which makes the former Mississippi State commitment from Miami a perfect early project for new strength coach Rock Gullickson.
> In weighing a December decision to stick with his commitment to Memphis or jump on a late offer to Tennessee, quarterback Will McBride got some interesting advice from Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson, who began his career with the Vols. (He didn't heed the advice, though.)
SETTING THE STAGE
The only real drama for Tennessee on signing day centers around uncommitted defensive end LaBryan Ray, though it'd be an upset if the Vols landed him over Alabama.
There's not too much concern among Tennessee's coaching staff about any current commitments signing elsewhere, but wide receivers Jordan Murphy and Jacquez Jones did take official visits in January late in the process.
With a full class and other programs adding players, how far will Tennessee drop among the national and SEC rankings? The Vols begin the day around 10th.
It's expected to be a relatively quiet signing day for Tennessee, and that's one of the reasons why there's a distinct lack of buzz around the Vols going into Wednesday.