KNOXVILLE — Offensive lineman Zach Fulton committed to University of Tennessee coaches Monday afternoon, becoming the 10th public pledge to UT’s 2010 signing class.

Fulton, a 6-foot-5, 305-pounder from Homewood-Flosmoor High School outside of Chicago, is rated by Rivals.com as the nation’s No. 21 guard prospect. Many Big Ten conference programs and Notre Dame have recruited him, but Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota were his only other confirmed scholarship offers.

Fulton is just the third offensive player to publicly commit to UT’s 2010 class, joining Kentucky fullback Channing Fugate and Miami offensive lineman Jose Jose.

The Vols don’t have tremendous depth along the offensive line. Four of this season’s five projected starters — left tackle Chris Scott, center Josh McNeil and guards Vlad Richard and Jacques McClendon — are seniors, too.

“I feel great; it’s a big weight off my back,” Fulton told Scout.com. “I felt there was no point in waiting any more.

“There’s not any place whose facilities can match Tennessee’s. There was no competition, as far as camp, academics and everything else. Everything went right.”

Prater left a UT camp four weeks ago with an offer after consistently impressing scouts and coaches. Some said he was the top lineman at a camp that featured several of the nation’s top prospects — including Nashville’s James Stone, Rivals’ No. 36 overall prospect and No. 4 offensive tackle.

“Probably the best overall day on the offensive line was Zach Fulton’s,” Rivals analyst Barton Simmons said after watching the UT camp. “He really looked good playing left guard most of the day. He really showed great strength, and a great initial punch (against) the pass rush. Really, it was just a complete effort by Fulton, a guy who really saw his stock rise a lot.”

The Volunteers are recruiting several prospects in Illinois. Most notably, they have been battling dozens of big programs for premier wide receiver prospect Kyle Prater of Hillside Proviso West — another Chicagoland school.

Prater, a 6-5, 205-pounder, is rated by Rivals as the nation’s No. 3 receiver and No. 19 overall prospect.

UT and several other Bowl Championship Series programs have also offered 6-6 receiver Matt Milton from Mascoutah, Ill., located just outside of St. Louis.

Read Tuesday’s Times Free Press for more information, and contact Wes Rucker at wrucker@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/wesrucker.