Tennessee Vols morning report: Jeremy Pruitt speaks at USA Football National Conference
Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt speaking at the USA National Football Conference leads our Volunteers news for Monday, Feb. 25, 2019.
The Oscars for 2019 are in the books, and while that’s the story across the nation for Monday, the Tennessee Vols have a ton of things that happened over the weekend. Some of it was good, some of it was bad, but it was all very extensive.
Our morning update on Rocky Top has recaps of nine events and a preview of one other. It basically was a weekend of matches and games in every spring sport. However, it leads with a story regarding the head coach of the football program and is not a recap or a preview.
This is the nature of spring sports in Knoxville. After all, it is peak season for sports. But let’s go ahead and start with a UT character in one of the few sports that just so happens to not be in season right now.
Jeremy Pruitt speaks at USA National Football Conference – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
Tennessee Vols football head coach Jeremy Pruitt spoke on Saturday at the USA National Football Conference. George Teague, who played defensive back for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the early 1990s and is now head coach at John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas, was in attendance. Here’s a bit of what he said about Pruitt.
"“He has a unique challenge coming to a program that was struggling,” he said. “He is having to rebuild the whole environment and culture, while doing some good recruiting.”“It was good to listen to him talk and he definitely has the type of personality to draw top-notch kids and work the relationships with high school coaches as well.”"
Rick Barnes comments after LSU loss – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
Tennessee Vols basketball head coach Rick Barnes spoke with the media after his team’s heartbreaking overtime loss Saturday against the LSU Tigers. Barnes talked about the final possession for his team in which no timeout was called.
"“I think we have a really bad rule in college basketball where coaches can’t call timeouts in that situation. The players are so locked in to trying to play. As much as you talk about it, they shouldn’t have to come down the floor looking at me, seeing if I want a timeout. Which we talked about having a timeout. Coaches should be allowed to call timeout.”"
Lady Vols lose to South Carolina – Marshall Hughes, WATE.com
The Tennessee women’s basketball team lost at home Sunday to the No. 13 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 82-67. With former Lady Vols Te’a Cooper out, they still dominated the first half to improve to 20-7 overall and 12-2 in the SEC. Holly Warlick’s team, meanwhile, fell to 17-10 and 6-8 in the SEC.
"The Gamecocks scored 27 points in the first quarter and never looked back as Bianca Cuevas-Moore piled up a game-high 28 points. Doniyah Cliney added 16 points while Alexis Jennings and Tyasha Harris also reached double figures."
Tennessee baseball completes sweep of Indiana – WVLT
The Tennessee Vols baseball team moved to 7-0 after sweeping the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday. They had a scare Sunday by falling behind 3-0 before coming back to win 5-3.
"Sophomore Garrett Crochet was lights out in relief, giving up one run on just two hits in 5.1 innings of work to earn his first win of the year. The lefty from Ocean Springs, Miss., helped the Vols get out of a jam on the third inning and went on to tie a career high with nine strikeouts on the day."
Tennessee softball wins first three of Tennessee Classic – Quinton Douglas, The Daily Beacon
The No. 7/8 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols softball team defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 9-0 on Friday and the Virginia Cavaliers and Bradley Braves 11-1 and 8-0 respectively on Sunday to win their first three games of the Tennessee Classic. With the victories, they have moved to 11-2 overall on the year.
"On Monday, Tennessee will conclude the Tennessee Classic with a rematch against Virginia and a finale against Louisville. The game against Virginia will begin at 2 p.m. and the first pitch against Louisville is set to be thrown at 4:30 p.m."
Men’s tennis wins both weekend road games – UTSports
The Tennessee Vols men’s tennis team defeated the N.C. State Wolfpack on Friday 4-1 and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Sunday 4-2. Both games were on the road and improved the team overall to 8-1.
"Junior Scott Jones clinched the match with a three-set comeback victory at the No. 3 position to lead the No. 15/26-ranked Tennessee men’s tennis team to a 4-2 win over Georgia Tech on Sunday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.After dropping the doubles point to start the day, the Vols didn’t flinch and showed toughness in fighting back to take four points in singles competition – where four of six matches went to three sets."
Women’s tennis sweeps weekend – UTSports
The Tennessee Lady Vols tennis team won three outings over the weekend, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 7-0 on Saturday and then the UT Martin Skyhawks and ETSU Buccaneers on Sunday in a double-header 7-0 and 4-0 respectively. With the wins, the No. 29 ranked Lady Vols moved to 9-2 on the season.
"The Lady Vols are home for another dubleheader next Saturday against No. 1 Georgia and in-state foe Chattanooga. The SEC opener against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 12 p.m., while the match against the Mocs is set for 4 p.m."
Track and field finishes in middle of SEC Championships – SECSports
The Tennessee track and field programs both finished in the middle of the pack of the SEC Championships. On the women’s side, they came in at No. 8, and on the men’s side, they came in at No. 6.
"The No. 3-ranked Florida men’s track and field team and the No. 1-ranked Arkansas women’s track and field team claimed the 2019 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships here Saturday at Randal Tyson Track Center.The SEC Indoor Championship is the fourth all-time for the Florida men and the first since 2015. The Arkansas women won their ninth all-time SEC Indoor Championship and fifth in a row by scoring 151 total team points."
Swimming and diving teams finish high in SEC Championships – SECSports
While the track and field teams were middle of the pack, the Tennessee swimming and diving teams finished high up in the SEC Championships over the weekend. The women’s team came in at No. 4, and the men’s team came in at No. 3.
"The Florida men and Texas A&M women are the winners of the 2019 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.The Aggies earned their fourth consecutive SEC title in women’s swimming & diving with a final score of 1,107 points. Florida came in second with 1,023.50 points. The Gators won their seventh consecutive and 40th overall title in men’s swimming & diving with a total score of 1,233 points. Missouri finished second with 1,137 points."
Lady Vols tied for 9th at Westbrook Invitational – UTSports
The Tennessee women’s golf team is tied at No. 9 after two rounds at the Westbrook Invitational. They shot three over par to tie with the Indiana Hoosiers.
"The Lady Vols have three players in the top 30 on the individual leaderboard entering the final round at Westbrook Village Golf Club. Junior Micheala Williams turned in a third consecutive under par round to start the tournament with an opening round 70 (-2).In her first 18 holes of play Sunday, she only recorded one bogey and at one point was as low as 3-under. Williams is the top Lady Vol on the individual leaderboard as she is tied for 17th at 1-under-par."
Men’s golf to compete in Southwestern Invitational – UTSports
The No. 22 ranked Tennessee Vols golf team will open up this season competing at the Southwestern Invitational in Westlake Village, Calif. The event will take place Monday and Tuesday.
"The field features 12 teams with the Vols entering as the lone Southeastern Conference team. UT is joined five PAC-12 schools in the field and are one of five teams ranked in the top 50 in the latest GolfStat team rankings (No. 7 USC, No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 16 California, No. 22 Tennessee and No. 43 UCLA)."