KNOXVILLE — Tennessee's 2012 football signing class received a late addition on Wednesday.
Kenneth Bynum, a linebacker from Jacksonville's Raines High School in Florida, signed with the Volunteers on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
The 6-foot-1, 221-pounder had been verbally committed to Cincinnati since October, but UT called with a scholarship offer the Monday before signing day two weeks ago following the last-minute defections of Dalton Santos to Texas and Otha Peters to Arkansas. Bynum, who's rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, 247sports and ESPN, delayed signing with the Bearcats and took an official visit to UT's campus a week later. It took him more than a week to reach the decision he announced Wednesday.
Bynum did not return a text message from the Times Free Press.
"He thought long and hard, that was the holdup," Raines coach Deran Wiley told the Florida Times-Union. "He was in such a great thought process. [Tennessee] came after him extra hard. It [the time after signing day] gave him some time to think, and more importantly pray about it. He made a great decision."
Bynum held other offers from Stanford, West Virginia, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Illinois and Rutgers, among others.
Patrick Brown has been the University of Tennessee beat writer since January 2011. A native of Memphis, Brown graduated from UT in May of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Electronic Media and worked at the Knoxville News Sentinel for two years on the sports editorial staff and as a freelance contributor. If it’s the NBA, the NFL or SEC football and basketball, he’s probably reading about it or watching it on TV. Contact him ...
