Tennessee Vols morning report: TSWA Awards, Phillip Fulmer radio interview
Tennessee Vols winning TSWA Awards and a Phillip Fulmer radio interview lead our Volunteers news for Wednesday, July 10, 2019.
We’re on the back end of summer now with the MLB All-Star game in the rearview mirror. And as that happens, the Tennessee Vols still have a ton of news for us to bring you with SEC Media Days, the de facto start of preseason less than a week out.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with statewide awards. Two different people involved with UT athletics earned recognition as the top performers in their roles across the state on Tuesday, which we’re going to detail. UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer conducting an interview is also big news.
After that, we have an interesting story about national recognition another football player is receiving, and we’ll close out with the schedule in another sport. But let’s start with the recognition earned by a few Vols.
Rick Barnes, Grant Williams earn TSWA Awards – TSWAonline.com
Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick barnes and men’s basketball player Grant Williams were named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s coach of the year and player of the year respectively. The honors were announced on Tuesday.
"Williams became the 10th player ever to win SEC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. He helped the Vols (31-6) earn their first Sweet Sixteen bid since 2014 and match the program record for wins in a single season. Barnes was named the winner of the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award for guiding the Vols to one the best campaigns in program history. Barnes also won the USBWA’s 2019 Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, leading Tennessee to a school-record tying 31 wins and a school-record 19-game win streak"
Phillip Fulmer speaks on program in radio interview – 3HL, 104.5 The Zone
Tennessee Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer spoke on Nashville’s radio show 3HL Tuesday about the state of the program as a whole and specifically where football is. Here’s a bit of what he said about the football program.
"“We’re trending upward. We had a nice recruiting class. Spring practice, honestly, was like night and day from just everybody knowing each other and what was expected.”"
Jarrrett Guarantano named Tennessee breakout player – David M. Hale, ESPN.com
Tennessee football quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has been tabbed by ESPN as a top potential breakout player for 2019. Guarantano joined people like Illinois Fighting Illini running back Reggie Corbin on the list.
"Not only did Guarantano survive the O-line struggles last year, he thrived. When pressured, he completed 57% of his passes and averaged 9 yards per attempt. No QB in the country was better. Few QBs needed to be."
Men’s tennis schedule announced – UTSports
A day after finalizing his contract extension, Tennessee Vols men’s tennis head coach Chris Woodruff announced his program’s 2019-2020 schedule. UT will play 11 home matches in the spring and actually begin facing SEC opponents earlier than usual this year.
"The Big Orange open the year in Champaign, Ill., from Sept. 7-15 for the M15 Champaign Futures tournament before returning south to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Bama Four-in-the-Fall, running Sept. 13-15. The team splits up for the Milwaukee Tennis Classic and the South Carolina Invitational (Sept. 20-22). From Sept. 26-29, the Vols will be in Malibu, Calif., for the Oracle ITA Masters while part of the squad will be in Oklahoma for the M25 Norman Futures (Sept. 28-Oct. 6)."