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Tennessee Vols morning report: Former Vol dies, NCAA Tournament

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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The death of a former Tennessee Vols football player and March Madness lead the Volunteers news for Wednesday, March 14, 2018.

The NCAA Tournament is about to start, and both the men’s and women’s Tennessee Vols teams are in it. However, neither lead our morning report for today, but that makes sense.

Tennessee doesn’t play until tomorrow, we already learned about their seeding, and there are no personnel updates. So while it’s still in our news on Rocky Top, it doesn’t dominate for today.

This morning’s news focuses largely on numerous other sports, including upcoming games and tournaments. And we do have news about two former Vols in different football capacities to bring you. Let’s start with the death of one of them.

Former Vol Buddy Cruze dead at 84 – Tom Mattingly, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tennessee Vols football All-American Buddy Cruze died over the weekend at age 84. Cruze played wide receiver for three years for Tennessee and was part of the 1956 team that finished the regular season undefeated.

"Cruze, who played for Knoxville High School and graduated from East High School, lettered in football, basketball, and track in 1950, 1951, and 1952. He was a high school All-American selection in football and basketball."

Tennessee Vols the “First Family” of March Madness – Wes Rucker, GoVols247

As we said, there’s not much news to bring you on this front for today specifically. However, one interesting fact is that the Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball teams have combined for the highest overall seed in the NCAA Tournaments of any school.

"The Tennessee men and women both have No. 3 seeds heading into the tournaments that start this week, and no combined basketball program in the country tops that."

Robert Gillespie joins UNC staff – Greg Barnes, Inside Carolina

Former Tennessee football running backs coach Robert Gillespie has joined Larry Fedora’s staff with the North Carolina Tar Heels.

"Gillespie, who spent five years as running backs coach in Knoxville, was initially retained by new Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt in December. He was let go on Feb. 13, less than a week after National Signing Day."

Tennessee pitcher named pitcher of the week – TSWA online

Tennessee Vols pitcher Will Neely was named pitcher of the week by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

"Neely tossed a complete-game in a 2-1 victory at Cincinnati, allowing one run on just five hits. The Knoxville, Tenn., native walked one and struck out five."

Tennessee baseball to host Western Carolina – UTSports

Sean Hundley takes the mount as the Tennessee Vols baseball team hosts the 1-14 Western Carolina Catamounts Wednesday. The game will now begin at 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus and WatchESPN online after an original 6:30 p.m. start. Tennessee comes into the game with an 11-6 record after sweeping the Cincinnati Bearcats over the weekend.

"Tennessee will look to up its winning streak to four games before heading to Oxford, Miss., to open SEC play at Ole Miss this weekend."

Tennessee softball travels to Hawaii for tournament – Hawaii Athletics online

The Tennessee Vols softball team begins the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic on Wednesday with a double-header against Cleveland State and North Dakota. It is the final regular season tournament for the No. 4 ranked Lady Vols, who are currently 24-1.

"Teams participating in this week’s tourney are Cleveland State (8-11, 0-0 Horizon), Maryland (7-17, 0-0 Big 10), North Dakota (13-11, 0-0 Big Sky), and No. 4 Tennessee (24-1, 0-0 SEC)."

NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships to begin – UTSports

The Tennessee Lady Vols begin the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday. They will have 10 players who individually qualified, including nine swimmers and one diver.

"The championships run Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday opens with just one event, the 800-yard freestyle relay at 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday have morning swimming preliminaries, followed by preliminary diving in the afternoon and championship finals at night."

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