Former Tennessee offensive tackle Drew Richmond will finish his career on the West Coast.

Months after entering the NCAA transfer portal in January with the intention of playing his final season eligibility elsewhere, Richmond announced via Twitter on Friday that he will play the 2019 season at Southern California.

Richmond, a 12-game starter for the Vols last season, took official visits in recent weeks to USC, Florida State, N.C. State and Oklahoma State, and he's chosen to finish his career with the Trojans.

The 6-foot-5, 316-pounder, who redshirted his first season on campus, also started six games in 2016 and seven games in 2017 — all at left tackle.

Richmond is a former four-star prospect who was ranked the No. 56 overall player, No. 3 offensive tackle prospect and No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee in the 247Sports Composite for the 2015 class.

He has remained enrolled at Tennessee this semester and likely will head to USC after completing his degree, meaning he'll be eligible to play next season as a graduate transfer.

Richmond wrote about the next step of his career and the experience of mentoring middle school students at the Emerald Academy in Knoxville in a piece published on The Players' Tribune.

"I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do at Tennessee. I was a three-year starter and I got my degree, and I’m leaving here with the ability and opportunity to continue playing football at a high level."

In concluding his letter, Richmond wrote: "This next step in my journey will help me find another piece of the puzzle — and to keep fulfilling my ultimate purpose. Next year, I will earn my masters degree in social entrepreneurship and play football at the University of Southern California."

Richmond joins tight end Eli Wolf (Georgia), quarterback Will McBride (Lamar) and cornerback Marquill Osborne (Charlotte) as transferring Tennessee players who either have announced where they will continue their career or joined their new programs.

Outside linebacker Austin Smith has yet to reveal where he will play the final season of his career.