Vols beat Gamecocks for Georgia DL John Mincey

There was a lot of South Carolina chatter around John Mincey as late as last week, but Tennessee was working behind the scenes and they closed the deal for this defensive lineman out of Homerville (Ga.) Clinch County.

The 6-foot-4, 258 pound strongside end took his official visit to Knoxville January 19, then he was in Columbia a week later. The decision was made after his last visit.

"I decided it was Tennessee shortly after my visit to South Carolina," said Mincey. "I picked Tennessee because I have a good relationship with the coaches. I am going to get coached by one of the greats in coach [Tracy] Rocker. He has accomplished some of the things that I want to accomplish in college football.

"It came down to playing for him and how I’m going to be around good people there."

Mincey described his decision as "tough" calling both South Carolina and Tennessee "great schools", so the one-time Arkansas commit said he is happy to have the recruiting process behind him.