Tennessee Vols morning report: Basketball starts, football stars honored
Tennessee Vols football stars receiving recognition for their play and the start of basketball season lead our Volunteers news for Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
It’s a huge day for the Tennessee Vols. The Three major sports, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football all have news for us to cover, and we have multiple stories on some of them to get to.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with the start of basketball season for both the men and women. They each have games tonight, and they both spoke with the media on Monday. That combined with a couple of different honors makes for lots of stuff we need to cover.
Beyond that, football is still a big story. We also have a Jeremy Pruitt press conference to cover, multiple players receiving national recognition, and a former Kentucky coach talking about a meeting with UT in 1997. So we’re loaded with news today, and we’ll start with basketball.
Rick Barnes speaks as Vol basketball opens season – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
On Tuesday night, men’s Tennessee Vols basketball will open Rick Barnes’s fifth season with a home game against UNC Asheville. The game is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be on SEC Network Plus and WatchESPN. Here is a bit of what Barnes said Monday at the Knoxville Quarterback Club, specifically about the situation with Uros Plavsic, who was denied his eligibility waiver.
"“He’s been really patient with it. There is another avenue that we’re exploring. You have some appeals that you can do, so we do have an appeal left. I’ve got full confidence that Coach Fulmer and our compliance people are going to do everything they can. I know he’s already made his statement about it. We’re all disappointed and somewhat surprised, to be quite frank. So we’ll see where it goes. Hopefully it can get rectified quickly.”"
Kellie Harper previews Lady Vols start to season – UTSports
First-year Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper will make her official debut as the Lady Vols open the season Tuesday night on the road against the ETSU Bucs. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be available on ESPN+. Here’s a bit of what Harper said.
"“At this point, I am just excited to get started. I am going to be partial towards Thompson-Boling Arena, so I am going to want to play here as much as we can, but it will be good for us to get a road trip under our belts early in the season.”"
Jeremy Pruitt speaks ahead of Kentucky – SI.com
Coming off a 30-7 win over the UAB Blazer, Tennessee Vols football head coach Jeremy Pruitt met with the media Monday ahead of their upcoming matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats. Here’s a bit of what he said about his 4-5 team.
"“We’ve got to continue to improve this week. We need to make tons of strides in all three phases to give us an opportunity to have success Saturday night. It’ll be a hostile environment, so we’re looking forward to the challenge. But Kentucky has a team that is really talented, playing really well right now, and we’ll have to be at our best to have a shot Saturday.”"
Hal Mumme remembers 1997 Vols-Wildcats game – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
Former Kentucky Wildcats head coach Hal Mumme recently spoke about the 1997 Tennessee football game at the Kentucky Wildcats, where Peyton Manning went for over 500 yards and dropped five touchdowns while Tim Couch had 476 yards and two touchdowns. Here’s what he said about that matchup.
"“What a show those two guys, Peyton and Tim, put on. It was really a fun game, unfortunately the Wildcats came in on the wrong end of that.”"
Bryce Thompson SEC Defensive Player of the Week – WBIR
In an honor everybody saw coming, Tennessee Vols sophomore cornerback Bryce Thompson was named SEC defensive player of the week. Thompson had three interceptions against the UAB Blazers, including one on the first play of the game.
"Thompson is the fifth Vol to earn a weekly conference honor this season. Trey Smith was named the Co-Offensive Lineman in week 7; Brandon Kennedy got Offensive Lineman honors in week 9; Daniel Bituli won in week 9 for Co-Defensive Player; Jauan Jennings was awarded Co-Offensive Player for week 9."
Brent Cimaglia named Lou Groza Award “Star of the Week” – lougrozaaward.com
After making three field goals on three attempts and not missing an extra point against the UAB Blazers, Tennessee football place-kicker Brent Cimaglia joined Riley Patterson of the Memphis Tigers and Nick Sciba of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons as the Lou Groza Award “Stars of the Week.” Cimaglia made field goals of 36, 48 and 53 yards.
"Cimaglia leads the SEC and ranks third in the nation in field goals with 15. He added three PATs for a 12-point game, extending his career-long perfect streak to 58 extra point attempts and giving him a team-leading 78 points this year."
Two Vols make preseason coaches men’s basketball All-SEC – SECSports.com
Returning Tennessee basketball guards Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden both made the preseason Coaches All-SEC second-team for 2019-2020. They are the only two returning major contributors for the Vols from last year, as both averaged double-figures scoring.
"The coaches’ preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC basketball coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made."