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Tennessee Vols morning report: Knoxville ranking as college down

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 Tennessee Vols hometown ranking as a college town and a new recruiting director lead the Volunteers news for Tuesday, July 31, 2018.

Welcome to the last day of July. We’re just around the corner from the start of Tennessee Vols fall camp, and it’s almost like the beginning of the Christmas season for college football fans. Recruiting news, former UT players in the NFL, and random funny incidents all lead the way this time. But we take a different approach for today’s morning report.

As we get set to bring you our updates on Rocky Top, we’re going to focus on a few outside rankings of Tennessee. One is where Knoxville ranks as a college town. Another is another basketball ranking for the Vols.

Meanwhile, there’s administrative news as well. We have a new recruiting director to cover and a former administrator taking a role elsewhere. So let’s get started with our updates, beginning with the coverage of Knoxville.

Knoxville named No. 26 ranked college town – Wai Sallas, HeroSports

Tennessee Vols fans will be mad this isn’t higher. In their ranking of 100 college towns in 100 days leading up to football season, Hero Sports placed Knoxville at No. 26. That is one spot above Lincoln, Neb.

"There is no denying the natural beauty Knoxville can offer. Nor can you challenge the loyalty and support of the Volunteer faithful. If Pruitt can get things turned around, a trip to the home of Mountain Dew might just “tickle your innards.”"

Tennessee basketball No. 3 in ESPN BPI – Jeff Borzello, ESPN

The Tennessee Vols continue to be very high up in the ESPN Basketball Power Index. They are currently No. 3, behind the Kansas Jayhawks and Gonzaga Bulldogs.

"The preseason rankings are based on the following categories: the quality and quantity of the returning players on the team, including transfers and players who missed last season because of injury; recruiting rankings, both overall and the number of five-star prospects; and coaches’ past performances on offense and defense."

Jeremy Pruitt reportedly hires new Recruiting director – Bethany Gunn, Twitter 

Looks like there’s a new recruiting director for Tennessee football. Bethany Gunn, who last served as the administrator of recruiting operations for the Auburn Tigers, announced on her Twitter page that she had the new role.

"Looks like I’m wearing a different orange this season…Beyond excited to join the University Of Tennessee football staff as Director of Recruiting!"

Former UT administrator named Austin Peay A.D. – Colby Wilson, Letsgopeay.com

Gerald Harrison, who was once a Tennessee football administrator, has been named athletic director at Austin Peay. Harrison is a Phillip Fulmer protege who graduated from UT in 2001. He has spent the past 10 years working with the Duke Blue Devils and another Fulmer product, football coach David Cutcliffe.

"Austin Peay State University President Dr. Alisa White introduced Gerald Harrison as the institutions 14thathletics director, Monday, at a press conference in the Dunn Center. An intrigued crowd of on-lookers filed into the Dunn Center at 11 a.m. to hear White and Harrison lay out their vision for the future of the department under the stewardship of the former Duke associate athletics director."

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