Tennessee Vols morning report: Basketball rankings update, national awards
The Tennessee Vols men’s basketball rankings and national recognition for players lead our Volunteers news for Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.
We’re into the middle part of December, and despite the search for an offensive coordinator dragging on, basketball is the story for the Tennessee Vols. The aftermath of their win over the No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs still dominates the headlines.
As we get set to bring you today’s updates on Rocky Top, we’re going to continue focusing on basketball news. This includes a rankings update, national recognition for a player and comments from a Monday media session.
But don’t worry. There’s still a bit of football news we’ll get to as well, as one player in that sport earned a bit of national recognition. Let’s start, though, with some of the biggest basketball stories in the aftermath of such a huge win.
Vols move into the Top 5 of both polls – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
The Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team moved up to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll after their win over Gonzaga Sunday. Ahead of them in both polls were the Kansas Jayhawks, who came in at No. 1 and delivered the Vols their only loss this year so far, in overtime, and the Duke Blue Devils, who lost to Gonzaga. In the Coaches Poll, the Virginia Cavaliers were ahead of UT.
"The jump on Monday follows dropping one spot in each of the last two poll updates. Tennessee dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 two weeks ago in the AP poll, following the overtime loss to No. 2 Kansas in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game. It dropped another spot last week after Michigan jumped both the Vols and No. 6 Nevada, taking over the No. 5 spot."
Admiral Schofield earns national recognition – UTSports
Admiral Schofield won numerous awards for the week after his role in the Tennessee Vols’ win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The star forward scored the Vols’ final 11 points in the win, including hitting two big threes at the very end to secure their victory.
"The All-SEC guard earned NBC Sports National Player of the Week, College Sports Madness National Player of the Week and SEC Co-Player of the Week honors after posting the best game of his career, as he rallied the Vols with a career-high 30 points and six rebounds."
Kyle Phillips wins 2018 Piesman Trophy – Alex Kirshner, SB Nation
Tennessee Vols football defensive end Kyle Phillips won the 2018 Piesman Trophy. The award goes to the defensive lineman who does something truly special with the ball in his hands, and the senior won it for his pick-six against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
"Phillips emerged from a nationwide field that included dozens of candidates, which we narrowed to 11 nominees at the end of the year."
Rick Barnes Monday comments after Gonzaga win – Blake Toppmeyer, The Tennessean
Tennessee Vols basketball head coach Rick Barnes spoke with the media Monday after his team’s huge win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He talked about the win and looking ahead to his team’s game at the Memphis Tigers Saturday, their first true road game of the year. Barnes said Lamonte Turner is still rehabilitating and noted that Sunday’s game felt like a road environment already.
"“When the President of Grand Canyon emails his students to say, ‘If you come to the game, pull for Gonzaga,’ … because I think they want to get in that league with Gonzaga,” Barnes said. “If you would have heard the introductions before the game, you would not think it was a neutral-site game.”"
Butch Jones joining Maryland Terrapins – InsideMDSports
Former Tennessee Vols football head coach Butch Jones will join Mike Locksley on the Maryland Terrapins staff. Jones was an offensive analyst for the Alabama Crimson Tide this past season, while Locksley was the offensive coordinator.