Dante Phillips, a four-star defensive tackle who initially signed with Florida in 2012, has officially joined Tennessee, the Vols announced via their official Twitter feed on Thursday afternoon.
Phillips, a 6-foot-6, 330-pounder from Venice, Fla., was denied admission by Florida officials despite being cleared by the NCAA. He is the No. 213 player overall in the 2012 class, according to 247Sports.com.
Phillips considered Tennessee, Miami, Western Kentucky and others after he was denied admission at Florida. He announced his decision to enroll at UT on July 18, but he had to wait for clearance from UT admissions officials before he could join the program.
The Vols are bringing in five new defensive linemen in 2012 -- Phillips, DT Daniel McCullers, DE Trent Taylor, DE Darrington Sentimore and DT Danny O'Brien.
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