LaMarcus Thompson first visited Knoxville six years ago. The trip made an impression.

"The crowd," Tennessee's newest commitment said when asked about his Neyland Stadium memories. "Everybody started singing the fight song."

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound linebacker from Stone Mountain, Ga., said the coaches, fans and UT's atmosphere persuaded him to announce his collegiate intentions last weekend. UT offered Thompson a scholarship Wednesday.

UT's coaches have been meeting all week concerning Thompson and various other prospects. The NCAA-mandated travel period ended last weekend.

Waiting on UT's decision wasn't anything new for Thompson. He spent his senior year in the shadows of nearby Stephenson High School. Stephenson has four senior prospects being recruited by UT.

"I think I'm right up there with them," said Thompson who is from Redan High School in Stone Mountain. "I kind of got overshadowed because Stephenson is a bigger school and they have more talent than we did."

Thompson, who said he was being recruited by a half-dozen other schools (most notably Georgia Tech), found himself off the recruiting radar for most of the year.

"Earlier in the year I was kind of down," he said. "I knew I could play but it wasn't getting noticed. My coaches just told me to stay in it and, eventually, everyone will see what you can do.

"I just kept on playing hard and it paid off."

Thompson always had a special place in his heart for the Vols, although he said he didn't grow up a UT fan. Thompson's stepfather went to Tennessee State.

"He's pretty excited," Thompson said. "My family loves Tennessee so they're thrilled about it. Actually, there are a lot of Tennessee fans around here, especially at my school. They're real excited about it."

Thompson's decision was all but made when UT running backs' coach Trooper Taylor immediately hit it off with Thompson's mother during a recruiting visit last week.

"He won her over, and that was one of the major factors," Thompson said. "You know you've got to please the mom. Once he did that, she was ready to put on a Vols' jersey before I was."

Thompson is UT's 14th commitment of the 2006 class. National Signing Day is Feb. 1.