Today On Rocky Top: Lady Vols To Host First Two Rounds Of NCAA Tourney

Mar 3, 2012, Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols guard Taber Spani (13) fights for a loose ball against South Carolina Gamecocks forward Aleighsa Welch (24) during the semifinal round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Lady Vols beat the Gamecocks 74-58. Mandatory credit: Don McPeak-US Presswire.

From WBIR

"The Lady Vols will have home-court advantage in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.The NCAA announced on Wednesday that Tennessee is one of 16 sites for the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship."

From CBS Sports

"Mike Hamilton is the guy who hired Lane Kiffin at Tennessee. He’s the guy who fired Bruce Pearl. He’s not sorry about any of that, not because he’s convinced everything he’s done is unassailable, but because he’s convinced all of that led him to where he is today.Where is he today? We’ll get there in a second, but first remember where Mike Hamilton used to be. He used to be athletics director at Tennessee, a job he held for eight fascinating years. Philip Fulmer was fired. Lane Kiffin came, and Lane Kiffin went. Derek Dooley said hello to Vol Nation. Bruce Pearl said goodbye."

From WBIR

"A combination of motorcycles, poker and the Lady Vols made for the perfect match Sunday afternoon. Motorcyclists from across the region joined Lady Vols Head Coach Holly Warlick for the 2013 Champions for a Cause Foundation Poker run to raise awareness for breast cancer research.Warlick said it was a great chance to ride on a beautiful day while getting the community involved in helping find a cure for breast cancer.“This is the biggest crowd we’ve had, credit to Knoxville Harley for getting the word out, and secondly, people coming out. You can get the word out but people have to come out and support it,” said Warlick."

From the Times Free Press

"Jacques Smith still is being forced to use his left hand in handshakes.The thick black cast protecting his broken thumb remains on his right hand, and the Tennessee defensive end has played the Volunteers’ last four games wearing the cast covered in tape.The former Ooltewah High School standout said he “finally got back up to my standard” and played what he thought was his best game in Tennessee’s overtime loss to Georgia last week, and though his preseason thumb injury is probably affecting his play, he won’t admit it.“We had been rehabbing on my hand for the past three-and-a-half weeks, and it was the first time I could actually really grip the blocker and really shove off of him, and it showed in the game,” Smith told the Times Free Press after Tuesday’s practice."