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Tennessee Vols morning report: Rick Barnes presser, Lady Vols reschedule game

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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All anybody can talk about when it comes to the Tennessee Vols is what Josh Heupel’s staff will look like, as he’s still working on putting it together. Although multiple reports have come out to provide details, which we provided updates on with this post Monday, nothing has been officially confirmed by UT just yet.

As a result, our morning update on Rocky Top for today ignores that news. Instead, we are loaded with basketball stories. Two of our men’s basketball stories are standard Monday news, but then there is another story about the recognition of a men’s player and a fourth story about the potential recognition of men’s and women’s players.

Women’s basketball scheduling news and an update on a tournament the women’s golf program is competing in also make today’s update. So there is plenty of news for us to get to without football coverage. Let’s start with the men’s basketball stories.

Men’s basketball drops in polls – Grant Ramey, GoVols247

After splitting last week’s games, falling at the Ole Miss Rebels but winning at the Kentucky Wildcats, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team fell five spots to No. 16 in the AP Poll and five spots to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll. They are behind the Missouri Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide, who are No. 10 and No. 11 respectively in both polls.

"The Vols are No. 10 in the NET rankings, with a 4-4 record in Quad 1 games. They’re No. 10 overall in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 1 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (90.1) and No. 65 in adjusted offensive efficiency (109.1)."

Keon Johnson SEC Freshman of the Week – Caleb Wethington, WATE

For the second straight week, Tennessee basketball had a player earn SEC Freshman of the Week. This time, Keon Johnson earned it after Jaden Springer earned it last week. Johnson averaged 19 points, four rebounds and three and a half assists in two games last week.

"While the Vols had a disappointing loss to Ole Miss this past week, Saturday’s comeback win over Kentucky is where Johnson truly shined. The stellar freshman had a season-high 27 points along with four rebounds and a block and a steal."

Rick Barnes holds weekly Monday presser – Rob Lewis, VolQuest

Coming off a split week, Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes held his weekly media session Monday ahead of his team’s Wednesday matchup at home against the Georgia Bulldogs and Saturday matchup at the LSU Tigers. UT is currently 13-4 and 6-4 in the SEC. Here’s a bit of what Barnes said about the Dawgs.

"“I think they’ve done a really great job of getting out in transition and playing. They’ve had really good point guard play, in terms of having a very hard player to defend because of his speed and quickness. They get ball screens in different actions. They’ll play some zone. They play man-to-man, but they’ll also go to their 2-3 zone that they have and mix it up that way.”"

Three Vols are Senior CLASS Award candidates – seniorclassaward.com

Yves Pons and John Fulkerson of the men’s Tennessee Vols basketball team are among the candidates for this year’s Senior CLASS Award. Rennie Davis of the Lady Vols women’s basketball team is also on the list.

"An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.The men’s and women’s candidates will be narrowed to two fields of ten finalists in late February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot."

Women’s basketball sets date for Texas A&M – SECSports

Is the third time a charm? The SEC has set the Tennessee Lady Vols’ makeup game with the Texas A&M Aggies for Sunday, Feb. 14. This is the third attempt to hold this game, as it was postponed twice due to a COVID outbreak within Kellie Harper’s program.

"Revised schedule of SEC Women’s Basketball Games for February 14:LSU at South Carolina on SEC Network at 12 pm ETGeorgia at Missouri on SEC Network at 2 pm ETMississippi State at Ole Miss on SEC Network at 4 pm ETAlabama at Auburn on SEC Network at 6 pm ETTennessee at Texas A&M on ESPN at 3 pm ET"

Women’s golf continues Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate – UTSports

On Monday, the Tennessee Lady Vols golf program completed the second round of the Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate in 12th place with junior Mikayla Bardwell and freshman Kayla Holden in the top 25 individually. The tournament, hosted by the Purdue Boilermakers and taking place in Sarasota, Fla. at the Founders Club, concludes Tuesday.

"Bardwell delivered a strong performance for the Lady Vols on Monday, repeating her score of +1 (73) from round one. She’ll look to close out the week with another great effort during round three on Tuesday sitting in a tie for 21st.After carding a score of +2 (74), Holden remains in the top 25 through day two. The freshman had a pair of birdies in the second round and stands tied for 24th position heading into the final round."

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