Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Get Commitment From 4-Star JUCO Safety Byron Moore

The nation's No. 5 junior college prospect and 4-star safety, Byron Moore, has verbally committed to the Tennessee Volunteers.

Moore, a 6'1" 205 pound speedster was originally part of Southern Cal's signing class of 2009 and entered Pete Carroll's program as the nation's sixth best defensive back prospect, but left USC after the arrival of former Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin and enrolled at Los Angeles Harbor Community College, where he played in 2010.

Moore had numerous offers, including Arkansas, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Miami. With former USC coaches Brennan Carroll (tight ends and National Recruiting Coordinator) and Jethro Franklin (defensive line) on staff at Miami and former teammate Malik Jackson on the Volunteers roster, the highly-touted defensive back had narrowed his choices to the two tradition-rich programs in recent weeks.

Moore also cited the opportunity to compete for immediate playing time as he trimmed down his offers to the Hurricanes and the Volunteers.

The announcement came on the 11:00 PM broadcast of The All Star Approach and was carried live via the world wide web on blogtalkradio.com.

Moore kept the East Coast fans up late, with the official announcement not coming until 11:42 EST when he declared, "I will be attending the University of Tennessee!"

The defensive back becomes the 24th member of Derek Dooley's recruiting class of 2011 and the seventh member to be added to the secondary.

Based on team rankings at Rivals.com, Tennessee's recruiting class currently ranks 15th with National Signing Day less than 36 hours away on Wednesday, February 2.