Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered, Tennessee polished off arguably its greatest basketball recruiting class in history with the addition of point guard Ramar Smith on Thursday.

Smith, a 6-foot-2, 197-pounder at Detroit’s Martin Luther King High, sent a letter of intent signed by his mother, as required by NCAA guidelines.

The class is expected to be ranked between No. 3 and No. 5 in the nation by Rivals.com. Prior to Smith’s signing, the Vols were No. 12 in the country.

In addition to Smith, the No. 30 prospect in the nation according to Rivals, UT landed forwards Duke Crews and Wayne Chism, and combo guard Marques Johnson, each rated in the nation’s top 50 by various recruiting services. Josh Tabb is a prep school combo guard rated in the top 50 of fifth-year seniors.

Crews, Chism and Johnson will be teammates Saturday night in the Derby Classic all-star game in Louisville, Ky.

UT coach Bruce Pearl, who guided the Vols to a 22-8 season, said special credit goes to his associate head coach, Tony Jones, who served as the primary recruiter for all of the players.

"Obviously, this doesn’t happen without Tony Jones,’’ Pearl said. "He’s done a phenomenal job to come here and have this type of recruiting year. Tony’s always been a great assistant, but now at this level, with all the resources, Tony showed he can recruit the best players in the country.’’

Jones, who played and coached high school basketball at Southwestern High School in Detroit, said in addition to his background helping, UT’s program and situation sold itself to Smith.

"It’s all about keeping good relationships and keeping it real with the players,’’ said Jones, Pearl's righthand man the past five seasons. "A blind man could see we need somebody that can do some things in the backcourt next season.’’

Pearl said Smith is a "crucial get’’ for the Vols.

"Ramar is a breakdown guy that can get to the rim and he can also defend,’’ Pearl said. "He has a special level of athleticism.’’

Pearl said he likes it that Smith played defensive back on his high school football team, as it showed his toughness and willingness to compete.

"The good news is that this is a talented class, the bad news is half our team is freshmen,’’ Pearl said. "It’s like having two first years as a head coach.’’

Pearl said he’s not sure when the Vols will land this many great players in one signing class again.

"It’s a great class, and it built on itself with the early commitments and the great season,’’ Pearl said. "We don’t get Ramar Smith without winning the SEC East. We were able to show him great point guard play in the SEC, and he saw the development of C.J. Watson, who got better and more prepared for the next level.

"A lot of things fell into place for us.’’