Today on Rocky Top: Dobbs Wildfire Visits, Basketball Recruiting, Lady Vols

Joshua Dobbs visiting Gatlinburg fire victims, basketball recruiting, and a women’s game lead the Volunteers news on Rocky Top for Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.

The holiday season is officially here! After a rough football season on Rocky Top, the beginning of December is a perfect time to bring Vol Nation some holiday cheer.

That’s needed now more than ever as well with the Gatlinburg fires, and we need to continue to think about the victims of those fires.

Some Vols are, which is something we’ll focus on here as we get set to bring you the news on Rocky Top for today.

There’s also some basketball and women’s basketball news, as those seasons are really starting to ramp up. That’s always another exciting part of the holiday season.

But let’s begin with football and the fires, the two biggest news in East Tennessee right now.

Vols’ Dobbs visits fire-ravaged Smokies – John Brice of 247Sports

"The guy too good to be true for college athletics once again showed his remarkable class on Wednesday.Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee’s all-world senior quarterback, spent Wednesday in Gatlinburg, the resort hamlet nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains where tragic wildfires engulfed the region."

Lady Vols top Tennessee State 86-36 – UTSports

"Junior Jaime Nared recorded her third consecutive double-double, as No. 22/25 Tennessee defeated Tennessee State, 86-36, on Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.Nared scored 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists on the night. Redshirt junior Diamond DeShields posted her second double-double of the season, totaling 15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals."

Jarnell Stokes’s brother chooses Gators over Vols – Mike Ceide of WREG-TV

"No. 24 Florida has signed big man Isaiah Stokes, the younger brother of former Tennessee standout Jarnell Stokes, to a national letter of intent.Stokes joins forwards DeAundrae Ballard and Chase Johnson in coach Mike White’s second recruiting class. All three picked the Gators during the early signing period."