Longtime in-state priority target Brycen Sanders revealed his top-four programs Tuesday evening. The Vols made the cut, along with fellow Southeastern Conference foes LSU & Ole Miss – and soon-to-be conference opponent, Oklahoma.

When it came down to why Tennessee made the final listing, it was an easy call for the four-star offensive lineman.

“They’ve been recruiting me almost as long as anyone else,” Sanders said of Tennessee. “I have a great relationship with coach [Glen] Elarbee and coach [Josh] Heupel. It’s the home state. It’s an hour and 45 minutes from home, so it was a no-brainer for me to continue to consider them as a school to play for.”

The Vols have been in this one from the get-go and have the ‘homefield advantage’ compared to the rest of the field. Sanders has made routine trips to Knoxville over the course of the past few years and has been in attendance for just about every recruiting event dating back to when the extended dead-period lifted last June.

Since the Heupel regime arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee’s offensive line coach has worked hard building a relationship with the Baylor School standout.

“He’s a great guy who is going to care about his players and treat them like family,” the prospect said of Elarbee, who played with his father at MTSU. “He’s super smart. I’ve sat down and watched film with him before. He’s a high IQ guy with how he’s going to teach you.”

The other three programs in the running for the Chattanooga, Tenn. native also have a lot to offer for the 6-foot-6, 275-pound athlete.

“For starters, all four of those teams are in the SEC. Oklahoma isn’t yet, but it will be in a year or two,” Sanders told Volquest. “That’s always been a dream of mine to play in this league. All four of those schools have great offensive coaching staffs.

“They all have good fanbases. All four programs are winning – and they’re winning at a high level.”

Sanders, who wrestles in the winter, has focused on his strength and condition this offseason. And if Tennessee is the program he chooses, the up-tempo offensive style of play won’t be a shock to the system.

“Their offense is similar to what my high school did this past year,” the offensive lineman said. “They score a lot of points, play fast and have fun doing it.

“I’ve been going at training super hard this offseason. Our strength coach at Baylor is really good. He’s an Olympic weightlifter and an Olympic strength coach. I’ve been trying to gain weight but lose fat at the same time. I think I’ve been doing that successfully this offseason and feel like my body looks better than it was a couple of months ago.”

The Vols view the four-star as a guy who will play in the interior of the offensive line at either guard or center. Sanders’ father has helped coach him his entire life and has spent the past three seasons as his offensive line instructor at Baylor. That type of tough-love coaching has prepared him for what’s to come.

“He’s definitely trained me harder than anyone else. We watch a lot of film. It’s going to help me prepare for college because I’m already getting that hard-coaching and film study,” the prospect said of his father. “I’ve been watching film since I was eight-years-old, so it’s nothing new to me. I love doing all that stuff. I’m very coachable.”

Because of his close proximity to UT’s campus that’s allowed him to come up often, Sanders won’t take an official visit to Tennessee before his commitment date. He’ll instead focus those trips on the other three programs in consideration, already feeling good about knowing the Volunteer program.

“I’m going to take an official visit to Ole Miss next weekend and then official visits to Oklahoma and LSU the first two weekends of June,” Sanders said of what’s to come. “I honestly just want to get this decision over with.

“I’m taking my time and taking my officials. I just feel like committing in mid-to-late June will allow me to focus on my senior season. It will allow me to focus on being a senior in high school and having fun.”

Still, Sanders was on Tennessee’s campus Wednesday to take in a spring practice. It was the first time the offensive lineman saw a Volunteer practice and the first time seeing Elarbee in his element.

“I just wanted to see a Tennessee practice and to see how the coaches were coaching, the flow of things and how the energy was. I liked what I saw – definitely,” the prospect concluded. "“It was fun watching them. They were doing a lot of situational stuff. It was a pretty physical practice and I enjoyed watching it."

This isn’t a slam dunk by any means, but the Vols are in position to win this one because of the early work put in by Elarbee and Heupel.