Football time in Tennessee means good times for basketball recruits coming to Knoxville for official visits.

UT already has at least three official visitors lined up and is working to find nine more to use up the full allotment.

Not only does UT coach Bruce Pearl have a promising program to sell, he also has an exciting environment and fan base to showcase. It's hard to imagine many other schools matching the passion and festivities of a football weekend in Knoxville.

Chandler Parsons, a 6-foot-9 wing from Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Fla., will be the first recruit in town this fall. Parsons is set to visit Sept. 2-3 to catch the Vols' opener with Cal on Saturday and the Boomsday Festivities on Sunday.

The other two visitors, J.J. Hickson from Marietta, Ga., and Mac Koshwal from Chicago, plan to visit Sept. 14-15 for Tennessee's pivotal showdown with Florida.

Hickson is a 6-9, 220-pound forward who attends Wheeler High and Koshwal is a 6-8, 240-pound forward attending Boys to Men Academy in Chicago.

Parsons is a long sharpshooter who could create matchup nightmares on the perimeter as a shooting guard or small forward.

Hickson and Koshwal are the type of physical, athletic players who won't back down in the heat of battle.

UT has three scholarships to offer -at this time — with the early signing period starting in November.

"With the graduation of Major Wingate, and then Dane Bradshaw who played power forward for us, we'll need at least one, preferably two, quality inside players in this class,'' Pearl said, when asked of his team's most pressing needs. 'We'd definitely need at least one big to play right away.''

Tennessee would like to take advantage of its momentum within state, but very few blue chippers in the Vols' mold have yet to emerge, as opposed to last season when the state was full of star-studded prospects.

The Class of '08 is a different story, and UT already has begun harvesting that crop in earnest.

But first things first, here are some other players being recruited by UT in this signing class that could fit into Pearl's "Controlled Chaos'' system:

• Cameron Tatum, 6-5 wing attending The Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., wanted to commit to UT last year but needed a year of prep school.

• Patrick Patterson, a 6-8, 235-pound power forward from Huntington, W.Va., has all the skills, and consequently all the big dogs chasing him: Duke, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.

• Aaron Pogue, a 6-8, 245-pound power forward from Dayton, Ohio, needs to decide which style fits him best, as Southern Cal, Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Illinois also are vying for his services.

• Jason Henry, a 6-7 wing with great athleticism and versatility originally from Memphis is now attending Light of the World, a Decatur, Ga., Prep School. Henry has some background knowledge on the Vols and likely will keep a close eye on Pearl's team this season.

• Trevor Gaskins, a 6-0, 180-pound point guard, recently transferred to Chattahoochee High in Alpharetta, Ga., definitely bears watching.

• Anthony McClain, a 7-foot center from National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., could have the ability and athleticism to get up and down the court like Wingate.

Momentum: Recruiting is a two-way street. As much as UT coaches watch and evaluate players — Sept. 9 begins a contact period — players evaluate Pearl's program, looking to see how they might improve their chances of playing professionally while also considering the environment they would live in and attend school.

The growth of the Tennessee program certainly shows great promise. Season tickets are running hot, with an average home attendance target of 20,000.

It's significant, because 20,000 likely would place Pearl's program No. 3 in the nation behind Syracuse and Kentucky.

It's worth noting UT's football program ranks third in the nation in home attendance behind Michigan and Penn State.

Further, there are at least 10 nationally televised UT men's basketball games, and number likely to increase to 12 if the Vols make it to the preseason NIT finals.

Kentucky, with all of its basketball tradition, also has 12 nationally televised broadcasts scheduled.

Ramar Smith Update: When Pearl says he doesn't know what to expect from this team, he's not kidding.

UT signee Ramar Smith will be a pivotal factor, as the point guard from Detroit Martin Luther King has shown he can light up the scoreboard and handle the ball.

Smith, however, still is waiting for his transcript and test score to be approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse. At last report, the Clearinghouse is in contact with the center that administered Smith's standardized test in June.

Key Points: Should Smith not qualify, the Vols likely would start the season with a point guard-by-committee rotation that could include up to four players.

Marques Johnson, a 6-6 signee from Fort Wayne, Ind., would battle returning junior Jordan Howell for starting honors. Johnson sees the floor well and presents match-up problems with his size. Howell showed he could handle pressure against Florida and Winthrop last season and has enjoyed a strong offseason.

Bradshaw, a 6-4 human floor burn, showed point guard skills as an under-sized power forward last season. Bradshaw still figures for time on the front line.

Finally, there's signee Josh Tabb, a 6-2 athletic combo-guard who remains a bit of a mystery. A fractured wrist has prevented the Cincinnati prep school product from exhibiting his skills during open gym workouts this summer. Tabb is expected to get a cast removed from his wrist at the end of this month.

Work To Start: Individual workouts start on Aug. 28. The team begins working together on Oct. 13 with the home exhibition opener set for Oct. 31.