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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Five-star offensive tackle David Sanders, the top uncommitted prospect in the 2025 class, committed to Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, landing with the Volunteers as the top-ranked prospect in the program’s rising 2025 recruiting class and the highest-rated pledge of the Josh Heupel era.
Tennessee beat Ohio State, Nebraska and Georgia in the chase for the No. 4 recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, securing Sanders’ pledge in the latest of a series of high-profile summer commitments for the Volunteers.
Sanders, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound blocker from Charlotte, North Carolina, enters his senior season at Charlotte’s Providence Day school as the reigning North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the program to its third straight NCISAA state title in 2023.
With Sanders’ decision made, five-star defensive tackle Elijah Griffin (No. 5 in the ESPN 300) becomes the top uncommitted prospect in the 2025 cycle, based on ESPN rankings.
For Sanders, Saturday’s pledge marked the culmination of a lengthy recruitment that began just after his freshman season in late 2021, included visits to SEC, Big Ten and ACC powers, and closed this week with last-minute pushes from some of the nation’s top programs before his announcement inside the gym at Providence Day.
At the end of a nearly three-year process, Sanders told ESPN his commitment swung on the environment within the Tennessee football program, his relationships with Heupel and offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and a comfort found in the hilly confines of the school’s Knoxville campus.
“The scenery is really nice up there,” Sanders said. “Obviously the connection with coach Heupel and coach Elarbee helped a lot, and it feels like this will be a second home for me. Providence Day has a family feel. Going there, I get the same feeling.”
The No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2025 class, Sanders is the latest addition to one of the elite offensive line classes being constructed in the current cycle, joining five-star offensive tackle Douglas Utu (No. 13 in the ESPN 300) and four-star offensive guard Nic Moore (No. 237), another pair of key commitments in Tennessee’s productive summer on the recruiting trail.
Sanders is the highest-rated pledge of Heupel’s tenure at Tennessee, topping a previous high set when the Volunteers signed five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews (No. 23 in the 2024 ESPN 300) in the last cycle. If Sanders signs with Tennessee, he will mark the program’s highest-ranked addition since the Volunteers landed No. 1 overall prospect Trey Smith in the 2017 class.
As a junior at Providence Day last fall, Sanders compiled 32 hurries, 24 tackles and four sacks in a pass rushing role while blocking for 2024 Michigan quarterback signee Jadyn Davis in an offense that stormed to another state title. Sanders is also on the basketball team at Providence Day and is a two-time state qualifier in the shot put and discus throw.
Michigan was first to offer Sanders in December 2021, and Tennessee joined the flurry of Power 4 programs to follow in the early months of 2022. Across his sophomore and junior years, Sanders’ list of unofficial visits included Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, Ohio State and Clemson, along with trips to programs closer to home in South Carolina, North Carolina and NC State.
From the program’s initial contact with Sanders prior to his freshman season, the Volunteers made North Carolina’s top prospect a priority in this cycle. Sanders connected early with defensive linemen James Pearce Jr. and Daevin Hobbs, a pair of current Tennessee players from the Charlotte area. When Sanders reached his junior year, Heupel and his staff were relentless in their communication with his family. And from within Tennessee’s 2025 class, quarterback George MacIntyre and defensive tackle Ethan Utley were among the commits who recruited Sanders hardest.
“George had been on me pretty heavy,” Sanders said. “We had a good relationship before he committed to Tennessee. Everyone there did a great job from the start. The entire coaching staff, from the offensive side to the defensive side, they’ve all done an amazing job.”
Sanders made Tennessee one of his six official visits this spring. Other trips included stops at Alabama, Georgia and Clemson, but it was Ohio State and Nebraska that emerged as finalists alongside Tennessee this summer.
He told ESPN that the Cornhuskers were not on his radar until 2024 five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola flipped from Georgia to Nebraska. The pair of five-star prospects grew close during their respective recruitments, and Raiola was pivotal in the Huskers’ push as coach Matt Rhule went hard for Sanders’ pledge. Ohio State also pursued Sanders heavily, with coach Ryan Day and offensive line coach Justin Frye forging close relationships. Sanders also kept in frequent contact with former Buckeyes offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., now of the Arizona Cardinals.
Nebraska and Ohio State led the charge working to sway Sanders from Tennessee into the final week of his recruitment, during which he says he was contacted heavily by programs across the country.
“My phone was blowing up this week more than it’s ever been blowing up,” Sanders said. “Some schools I haven’t heard from in months were still trying to call for one last push.”
“Tennessee treated me like family from Day 1,” Sanders continued. “It was definitely the place I felt most at home. The locker room. The recruitment. They have a great class coming in, and I look forward to being a part of it and going in there and getting better.”
With Sanders’ pledge, only four of the top 10 prospects in the 2025 cycle remain uncommitted. Two of those five-star talents — outside linebacker Jonah Williams (No. 8) and offensive tackle Michael Fasusi (No. 9) — are expected to announce their pledges over the next week.
Sanders is Tennessee’s 22nd commit in 2025 and the ninth ESPN 300 pledge in a class that has now gained 13 pledges since June 1. The Volunteers’ incoming class also includes headliners in MacIntyre (No. 6 pocket passer), Utu (No. 4 offensive tackle) and defenders Utley (No. 8 defensive tackle), Lagonza Hayward Jr. (No. 9 safety) and Christian Gass (No. 17 outside linebacker)
Up to No. 9 in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the 2025 class, the Volunteers will continue to rise with Sanders’ pledge, riding positive momentum into Heupel’s fourth fall in charge.