Tennessee Vols morning report: Butch Jones image removed, basketball recognition
Former Tennessee Vols football coach Butch Jones’s image coming down from the Neyland scoreboard leads our Volunteers news for Tuesday, March 6, 2018.
The madness that is March is beginning. The Tennessee Vols have spring practice to focus on for football, the conference tournament to focus on for basketball, and of course, the NCAA Tournament to think about for the men and the women.
On top of that, other sports are going on right now as well. That includes the postseason in another sport and the regular season of multiple spring sports in full swing. All of this makes for a tone of news for us to bring you today.
Men’s basketball news, Lady Vols recruiting, football personnel and other spring sports are all on the plate. But we actually start with a unique football story.
Butch Jones removed from Neyland – Blake Toppmeyer, Knoxville News Sentinel
The image of former Tennessee Vols football head coach Butch Jones was finally removed from the Neyland Stadium video board Monday. UT legend Al Wilson replaced him up there.
"All three images on the video board will be replaced, but Jones’ was the only one swapped out Monday. The project will continue throughout the week."
Graduate transfer kicker picks UT – Aaron McMann, MLive
Days after adding a graduate transfer at quarterback, the Tennessee Vols added a graduate transfer at place-kicker. Ryan Tice is heading to Knoxville after spending the past few years with the Michigan Wolverines.
"The 6-foot-1, 172-pound kicker has two years of eligibility left and will join the Tennessee football program as a walk-on, he said."
Tennessee football adds special teams analyst – Doug Samuels, Football Scoop
Jeremy Pruitt is adding another guy from the Alabama Crimson Tide to his staff. Carter Blount will take the same role with the Vols that he had in Tuscaloosa.
"Per source, Alabama special teams assistant analyst Carter Blount has accepted the special teams analyst position with the Vols."
Tennessee basketball jumps in both polls – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
The Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team jumped to their highest rankings of the year in the AP and Coaches Polls, moving to No. 13 and No. 12 respectively.
"The Vols went 2-0 last week — winning 76-54 at Mississippi State on Tuesday and rallying late to beat Georgia 66-61 Saturday in Knoxville — to close the regular-season schedule on a four-game winning streak while winning a share of the SEC regular-season title."
Admiral Schofield named co-SEC Player of the Week – SEC Sports staff
Tennessee basketball forward Admiral Schofield was named co-SEC Player of the Week for the second straight week. He joined Jalen Hudson of the Florida Gators.
"Schofield averaged 23.5 points and five rebounds in wins at Mississippi State and Over Georgia. Schofield made 50 percent (17-of-34) of his field goal attempts on the week while helping lead Tennessee to a share of the SEC Championship."
Two Lady Vols commits are high school All-Americans – Naismith Trophy online
Tennessee Lady Vols commits Amira Collins and Zarielle Green were named 2018 Naismith High School All-Americans. Collins was a first-teamer, and Green made third-team.
Baseball begins series with James Madison – UTSports
The Tennessee Vols baseball team will host James Madison in a midweek two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday. They enter the series with a 7-5 overall record.
"The Vols went 3-2 last week with wins over Middle Tennessee (5-4), Arkansas Pine Bluff (9-1) and Memphis (2-1)."
Three Vols qualify at NCAA Zone Diving – Jared Anderson, SwimSwam
Colin Zeng and Liam Stone both qualified for NCAAs on the men’s side, and Rachel Rubadue did so on the women’s side.