Vols pick up late football signee Kenneth Bynum

Friday, January 1, 1904

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.