Tell Ramone Johnson he isn’t ready for the next level. He will tell you otherwise.



"I expect to play my freshman year," the offensive lineman from Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Ill., said. "I’m going to come in and I’m going to work just as hard as anyone else is working."



Johnson said he knows he doesn’t have as much as strength as most of the offensive linemen already in college. But the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder said he can use his quickness while he catches up.



"People there may be bigger than me but I seriously doubt that they’re quicker than me," he said. "I’m not trying to sound conceited but I can move.

"I expect to come in and play. I’m not playing any games with anybody. I’m going to go and take care of business."

Johnson said he plans to announce his college selection between Tennessee and Illinois at 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Johnson took an official visit to UT on Jan. 13 before taking his second and only other official visit to Illinois last weekend.

Johnson said he spent a lot of time with UT head coach Phillip Fulmer and offensive line coach Greg Adkins during his trip to UT. He said the visit gave the Vols a nice head start in the race for his services.

"Everything was beautiful," he said. "I guess it’s just the southern hospitality that made me feel good. There’s just something about coach Adkins and coach Fulmer when they come around. There’s just something about them that other people don’t have."

Johnson said the idea of traveling far from home will not be a factor in his decision. If anything, he believes leaving home might be a good idea.

"I kind of would like to get away because that would mature me in my manhood and teach me how to be disciplined," he said. "With there being no one from Chicago there with me, it’s kind of like I’d be on my own, but not really because the Tennessee football team is one big family. That’s how I felt when I was down there."

If Johnson chooses UT, he won’t be the first Morgan Park alum to play for the Vols. Former defensive end Karlton Neal attended Morgan Park and played for UT from 2001-04.

Johnson said he sought out Neal to find out more about UT when the Vols began expressing interest.

"I kind of caught up with him and he told me the positives and the negatives of Tennessee and kind of showed me the ropes," Johnson said. "I saw him when I was down there for my visit. Everything was smooth sailing from there."

Johnson said he doesn’t expect the next few days to be difficult as he prepares to announce his final choice on Sunday night. He said the recruiting process has been too much fun to allow it to become an inconvenience.

"It isn’t really hard because I know that I’m going to have to choose one out of the two schools," he said. "It’s not really much pressure because no one can really get mad at me for not choosing their school. If anything they should get mad at themselves. I’m going to do what’s best for me."

Johnson said he’s known since his sophomore year in high school that he would making this decision.

"People told me, ‘Boy with your size, you’ve got the potential to do what you want to do and be what you want to be,’" Johnson said. "I just kind of ran with it."