Today on Rocky Top: Bowl Report, Basketball Recruiting, Lady Vols Injury

Tennessee’s bowl updates, a basketball assistant on recruiting, and a women’s injury headline the Volunteers news on Rocky Top for Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016.

We are full-on into the holiday season, and there is a ton of news to get to on Rocky Top surrounding Vols basketball and football.

As we get set to bring you the Tennessee news for today, there’s a bit of standard coverage, but one story is quite unique when it comes to men’s basketball.

An assistant coach is actually making the news.

There’s also an unfortunate injury to get to in the women’s basketball program.

But let’s start with the football news, as the Vols continue to get ready for the Music City Bowl.

Vols building momentum for bowl – UTSports

"Tennessee Football linebackers Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Cortez McDowell, along with defensive back Rashaan Gaulden and offensive lineman Dylan Wiesman, spoke to reporters on Monday after practice on the indoor field of the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center.Tennessee (8-4) will play Nebraska (9-3) in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. The game will feature a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN. The Vols are ranked No. 21 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings. The Cornhuskers are No. 21 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll."

Vols men’s basketball assistant responds to recruiting critics – Grant Ramey of 247Sports

"Assistant coach Desmond Oliver has a response for Tennessee basketball fans under the belief that head coach Rick Barnes is a lazy recruiter.“I would challenge any fans that would tell me that or say that, and ask them, unless you’re traveling with me or Rob (Lanier) or Mike (Schwartz), the guys that go out, how would you know where we’re going or what we’re doing, recruiting wise?” Oliver said on Monday during a segment on WNML’s Sports 180."

Warlick doesn’t talk about DeShields’s thumb injury – Phil Kaplan of the Knoxville News-Sentinel

"If Diamond DeShields is sidelined for the next two women’s basketball games, there was no official word on the status of the Tennessee junior guard from the Lady Vols on Monday.DeShields told reporters after Sunday’s 59-51 victory over No. 10 Stanford (8-2) at Thompson-Boling Arena that she has a partially torn ligament in her right thumb and likely will sit out until the SEC opener against Kentucky on Jan. 1."