Tennessee added to an already solid class by signing four-star defensive end Jonathan Kongbo III Wednesday afternoon. The junior college defensive lineman chose the Vols over Florida State, USC and Ole Miss.

In  fact, it looked like Ole Miss was going to get him as recently as Tuesday night.

“Our defense just got a whole lot better.” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said after receiving Kongbo’s letter of intent.

Kongbo committed to Tennessee in late November during his official visit with the Vols but reopening his recruitment on Jan. 5. He also took official visits to Ole Miss in October, Oregon State in early December and USC in January, and he most recently visited Florida State last weekend and there was plenty of buzz that he was going to wind up in Tallahassee.

Kong played at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Ariz., last year. With Tennessee considered a favorite in the SEC East, adding an experienced Kongbo should help the Vols immediately.