As Tennessee football looks to strengthen its 2026 recruiting class, the Vols have made the top four for an interesting target.

Four-star athlete Sequel Patterson listed UT along with South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky as finalists.

He did not publicize a commitment date yet, though.

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Out of Fort Mill, South Carolina, it's going to be tough for Tennessee to flip the No. 193 player in the class over to the Volunteer State.

Patterson received a forecast from Fisher Brewer, a reporter who covers the Gamecocks, on June 2.

This past weekend, Patterson took an official visit to South Carolina. It was the only official visit among his four finalists that he posted on social media.

He does have some familiarity with Knoxville, though. He took a visit to see Tennessee beat Florida this past season in front of a 'Checker Neyland' crowd. He tagged Vols wide receiver coach Kelsey Pope and assistant wide receivers coach KJ Parmer in the post.

He initially picked up his offer from UT on May 9 of 2024. This made Tennessee the second SEC team to extend him an offer behind just Kentucky.

Both programs are in his final list of schools he'll be choosing from.

South Carolina got in the mix shortly after while Georgia was late to send his offer over.

The Vols currently hold just nine commitments in the 2026 class. This is good for the No. 38 group in the country to this point.

The group is headlined by five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon who is the top signal caller in the cycle and No. 2 overall player.

Tyreek King is knocking on the door of five-star status, but currently sits as a highly-ranked four-star.

Other four-stars committed to this point are tight end Carson Sneed, offensive lineman Gabriel Osenda and edge rusher Zach Groves.

Three-stars in the boat are edge rusher CJ Edwards, linebacker Braylon Outlaw and safety KJ McClain. Unranked athlete Luke Thompson joined, as well.

In 2027, Tennessee just landed the commitment of three-star local linebacker JP Peace.

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