Tennessee Vols morning report: Jeremy Pruitt on SEC Network, NCAA eligibility updates
An SEC Network interview with Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt and eligibility updates lead our Volunteers news for Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
We’ve reached the final day of a crazy month. Heading into March, the question was if the Tennessee Vols men’s and women’s basketball programs would take part in March Madness. By the end of the month, everybody was taking part in a bit of madness that did occur in March, even if March Madness was canceled.
Our morning update on Rocky To for the end of March leads with more updates related to coronavirus cancelations. An interview with one UT coach and updates from the NCAA about new eligibility rules lead the way.
There is also a bit of recognition to give to a specific athlete in one sport, and we’ll get to that as well. However, let’s start with COVID-19 related stories, including interviews on teams dealing with it and how the NCAA is handling it.
Jeremy Pruitt on cancelations – Laura Rutledge, SEC Network
With spring practice on hold, Tennessee Vols football head coach Jeremy Pruitt spoke with Laura Rutledge of SEC Network in a video interview about how his team is handling everything. He talked about checking in with all the players about their safety and then discussing schooling. Here’s a bit of what else he said about getting back to football-related content with them.
"“Well I think our players, you know, they’re really looking forward to it. I think it gives them an opportunity, because most of them are shut-in at home, so it gives them an opportunity to do something else.”"
NCAA extends eligibility for spring athletes – Michelle Brutlag Hosick, NCAA.org
On Monday, the NCAA allowed schools to extend eligibility by one year for all student-athletes who play spring sports that were canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. They will be able to use the NCAA Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships for students who use the extra year of eligibility in 2020-2021.
"Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20."
Ariadna Riley a finalist for leadership award – ITA Tennis
Women’s tennis senior Ariadna Riley of the Tennessee Lady Vols was named a finalist for the ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award Monday. She is one of five players in the running, including one other Division I player, Meible Chi of the Duke Blue Devils.
"The ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award endowed by Billie Jean King was created to honor a recent college graduate who played college tennis and demonstrated excellence on and off the court, leadership on his or her team as well as on his or her college campus and in his or her community. The recipient of the award will have demonstrated grit (i.e. passion and perseverance towards long-term goals), a commitment to social justice and equality and will have pushed others to be leaders in addition to demonstrating his or her own leadership."