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Tennessee Vols morning report: Derek Barnett praise, Phillip Fulmer on AD goals

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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Phillip Fulmer on how long he plans to be Tennessee Vols athletic director and Derek Barnett lead the Volunteers news for Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018.

The last day of January is here. And while we don’t have an official speech to give on the Tennessee Vols’ State of the Union, there is still plenty to cover to give you an idea of where it stands.

Today’s news slate on Rocky Top is full. A former Vol in the Super Bowl, an interview with a UT major official, and an upcoming basketball game are all in the works.

However, there are also two stories surrounding softball and another in swimming and diving. And yes, we will get to all of these reports. Let’s start with the UT major official’s interview.

Phillip Fulmer on how long he wants to be AD – Jimmy Hyams, WNML

Tennessee Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer wants to serve in his new role for longer than two years, noting that wouldn’t be fair to Jeremy Pruitt. Fulmer relayed as much to Jimmy Hyams recently. Here’s a bit of what he said.

"“I want to do this as long as I am being helpful and if I had to put a number on it, which I don’t have to, I would say five years, six years, something like that.”"

Eagles veteran praises Derek Barnett – Wes Rucker, GoVols247

Former Tennessee Vols defensive end Derek Barnett has helped the Philadelphia Eagles get to the Super Bowl his first year in the NFL. He received praise from teammate Fletcher Cox on Tuesday. Here’s what Cox said about him.

"“Ah, man. Derek Barnett, I think he’s really one of the greatest rookies I’ve been around. He comes to work every day. He listens, he takes to coaching. I can tell this, he’s played from Day One, the way he approaches every day to now, you don’t see those little technic mistakes or mental errors from him.”"

Tennessee basketball to host LSU Tigers – Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel

Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols will face the LSU Tigers Wednesday night looking to extend their winning streak to four games. LSU will have four players suspended for the game, which makes things easier on Rocky Top.

"The No. 19 Vols (15-5, 5-3 SEC) are two-thirds of the way through the season with 10 regular-season games remaining. They’ll get that back stretch started with a home game against LSU (12-8, 3-5) on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) with the knowledge that this season has progressed quite differently than the last, as they have been ranked for the past two months and can match last season’s win total with a win against the Tigers."

Tennessee softball ranked in Top 12 in preseason polls – UTSports

They came up just one game short of another trip to the Women’s College World Series last year. Now, looking to get back there, the Tennessee Lady Vols softball team starts the season ranked No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25 Poll and No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches’ Poll. This is the 15th straight year they were ranked in both preseason polls.

"Defending national champion Oklahoma begins the year as the No. 1 pick in both polls. The Sooners received 31 of the 32 first-place votes in the NCFA poll and 18 first-place votes in the USA Softball poll after returning seven starters from last year’s championship team. The SEC had the most teams represented in both polls once again as nine schools were included in the NFCA Poll, including  seven in the top 15"

Tennessee softball plays 11 national TV games – Kimberly Elchlepp, ESPN Media Zone

The Tennessee Lady Vols softball team will play five games this year on SEC Network, four games on ESPN2, and two games on ESPNU. Five of their TV games will be at home.

"More than 80 televised games will spotlight ranked teams, with more than 40 of those match-ups featuring a head-to-head ranked showdown. Games will be available on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, SEC Network +, ACC Network Extra, and the ESPN App."

Erika Brown named female swimmer of the week – SEC Sports

The Tennessee Vols swimming and diving team had the female swimmer of the week. Erika Brown gained the recognition after helping the Vols beat Florida.

"She posted B-cut times in both the 100 fly (52.31) and 200 free (1:47.74). Brown also was a member of the top-finishing 200 medley relay (1:39.79) and 400 free relay (3:19.60)."

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