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Tennessee Vols morning report: Recruiting splash, basketball games

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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A splash in Tennessee Vols football recruiting in the early signing period and two basketball games lead the Volunteers news for Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017.

Happy Winter Solstice everybody! It’s the shortest day of the year, but in the midst of the early darkness, Tennessee Vols fans finally see some daylight. After a 4-8 football season, a destructive coaching search and a heartbreaking men’s basketball loss earlier this week, that was a long time coming.

A major splash recruiting day for the football program is clearly the story on Rocky Top with Christmas four days out. Fans are reinvigorated now given what they saw on Wednesday, and that will definitely lead our news.

However, we also have a recap of a game to bring you. And we have a preview of another game. Simply put, there’s not a lot of news to get to, but it’s all big news.

So let’s get started, going straight into the football recruiting news.

Tennessee Vols score major recruits – Blake Toppmeyer, Knoxville News Sentinel

The Tennessee football program had a huge day in the first day of the early signing period Wednesday. It was the first of its kind, and nobody enjoyed more success than the Vols. With a class outside of the Top 60 on Rivals before the day began, Jeremy Pruitt picked up a mixture of new four-star recruits, a quarterback and some junior college guys. It was enough to move the class into the Top 30 before the day ended.

"The Vols signed 12 players Wednesday, the first day of the new three-day early signing period. Six of those players were holdover commitments from Butch Jones’ tenure.But Tennessee made a splash Wednesday, when five uncommitted players announced for the Vols. Those are Pruitt pickups."

Tennessee Vols basketball defeats Furman – Grant Ramey, GoVols247

Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels at home Sunday, the men’s Tennessee Vols basketball program nearly suffered more bad news Wednesday. They had to fight for an ugly 66-61 win to defeat the Furman Paladins.

"Tennessee (8-2) got 21 points from Knoxville native Jordan Bowden, out of Carter High School, and Furman (8-4) was carried by 22 points from senior guard Devin Sibley, out of Karns High School.Grant Williams added 14 points for the Vols, who fell 78-73 at home against North Carolina on Sunday in front of a capacity home crowd, and Admiral Schofield added 12 points and 13 rebounds to help survive the Paladins."

Tennessee Lady Vols to face Stanford – UTSports

In their last game before the start of SEC play, the women’s Tennessee Vols basketball team will take on the No. 18 ranked Stanford Cardinal on the road Thursday night. With a red-hot start to the season, this game would only further validate that the program is back.

"No. 7/7 Tennessee (11-0) is in the midst of an eight-day West Coast trip, concluding it on Thursday evening vs. No. 18/24 Stanford (6-5) at Maples Pavilion. Tip time is 6 p.m. PT (9 ET).UT will be looking to snap a five-game venue losing streak at Maples, last winning on Stanford’s home court on Dec. 4, 2005. The Lady Vols will be aiming to go 12-0 for only the fifth occasion in school history and for the first time during the Holly Warlick era."

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