Not long after Tennessee gave Tiyon Evans his first scholarship offer in December, he made a brief detour while driving back to his hometown in South Carolina for his holiday break to take a closer look at the city of Knoxville. A little more than four months later, he decided it would be his future home.

The Class of 2021 running back from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College announced Thursday that he has committed to the Vols, choosing Tennessee over home-state school South Carolina and offers from at least a half-dozen other schools.

The 5-foot-10.5, 215-pound Evans gave Tennessee its 14th commitment for the 2021 class and its fourth within the past five days, continuing the Vols’ recent hot streak in recruiting and further addressing a position where they’re preparing to lose three seniors after the 2020 season.

He said he has been impressed by “just the amount of attention” Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt’s staff has been showing him and “the amount of effort they’re putting in to show me that Tennessee is a good place.” Evans said he has been “hearing from them a lot — really, every day” — led by tight ends coach Joe Osovet and running backs coach Jay Graham.

Evans, a former standout at Hartsville (S.C.) High School, said he’s also excited about “the opportunity I have” with the Vols.

“I ain’t going to go too far (from home), but I have a lot of opportunities at Tennessee,” said Evans, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 3 overall junior-college prospect and No. 1 juco running back in the 2021 class.

“Honestly, South Carolina was a good school for me. But I don’t know. I did some research, and just comparing the running back coach at Tennessee and the running back coach at South Carolina and their history. And Tennessee’s history is amazing. That’s the place.

“My family loves Tennessee. My mom always wanted me to be away from South Carolina. South Carolina, it ain’t always been a good place for me, so I’m trying to move my family somewhere else.”

Tennessee has made it clear to Evans, he said, that he could see the field early at running back, where the Vols likely will need to replace senior running backs Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan and Carlin Fils-aime after this year.

“They’re basically telling me the timing of when I graduate and the players that they need around that time is perfect,” said Evans, who plans to graduate from Hutchinson in December and enroll at Tennessee in January. “They said they’re going to be losing three senior running backs this year, and it’s going to only be a freshman that played with them whenever I get in.

“I mean, competition is competition. I ain’t ever ducking no competition. But when it’s less people you’ve got to compete with, it’s easier. And I feel comfortable with Coach Graham’s coaching history and (offensive coordinator Jim) Chaney’s coaching history and the running backs he’s coached.”

And while Evans hasn’t visited Tennessee’s campus to this point, he said he’s familiar enough with the Vols — and Knoxville, thanks to his brief drive through the city in December — that he already feels comfortable with what they have to offer.

“I drove home once and I rolled through Tennessee. That was last semester, when I drove home for Christmas break,” he said. “I was driving through on the highway and I stopped, and I saw the whole big city and stuff.

“I’m definitely going to get down there and get my official visit. I’m going to definitely do that.”

The start of the Early Signing Period for the 2021 class is still more than seven months away. But with his decision behind him, he said he currently doesn’t plan to explore other options or take any visits in the coming months aside from traveling to Tennessee.

“That’s going to be it for me,” Evans said.