Tennessee Vols morning report: Tim Banks, Kodi Burns speak after spring practice
We’ve reached the final day in March. Although the Tennessee Vols men’s and women’s basketball teams did not get to take part in the madness part of it as much as fans would have liked, there is still plenty happening on Rocky Top.
Our morning update for UT leads with two football spring practice stories. One involved two assistants speaking with the media, and another involved the program doing something it hadn’t done in over a year.
Beyond football, though, we’ve still got success stories on the diamond to cover. Baseball and softball both continued to roll Tuesday, and we’ll recap their games. Let’s start, though, with the football stories.
Football holds open spring practice – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
Spring ball in Josh Heupel’s first year continues. Highlights were able to be gathered from the Tennessee Vols football team’s most recent event, which hasn’t happened since before COVID hit last year.
"Tennessee football was back on the practice field Tuesday afternoon, holding the third practice of spring camp. For the first time in more than a year, the practice was open to reporters early on."
Tim Banks, Kodi Burns meet with media – Austin Price, VolQuest
After Tuesday’s practice, Tennessee football defensive coordinator Tim Banks and wide receivers coach Kodi Burns spoke with reporters. Banks revealed one big update, which is that linebacker Jeremy Banks is being held out of the spring right now as he recovers from an injury. Here’s a bit of what else Tim Banks said about the linebackers, the most open position.
"“All of those guys are working extremely hard to try and separate themselves and like I said today is really the first day we put pads on. I think as we continue to move through it, we will have a chance to define some roles better. But right now, it is a little bit by committee and again a lot of times that ends up being a good thing because you are developing some depth.”"
Burns discussed the development of the three sophomore receivers in Malachi Wideman, Jimmy Holiday and Jimmy Calloway. Here’s a bit of what he said about offensive players stepping up early in the spring.
"“I think by default and just by personality, time on task as far as him starting at a different school and coming here to Tennessee and doing the same thing, Velus Jones Jr. has kind of stepped up and emerged as one of those guys that can truly grow these young guys. He can teach them how to practice, teach them what the standard is and what we’re looking for.”"
Baseball defeats Western Carolina – UTSports
Coming off a sweep over the LSU Tigers this past weekend, the Tennessee Vols baseball team blew out the Western Carolina Catamounts 9-2 in its first game as a top 10 team in every poll since 2006 on Tuesday. They improved to 22-4 on the year and extended their winning streak to six games with a three-game trip to the Alabama Crimson Tide coming up this weekend.
"A pair of freshmen were the stars for the Big Orange as outfielder Kyle Booker and pitcher Jake Fitzgibbons both put forth their best performances of the season to this point.Booker led the charge offensively with a career-best three runs and two hits, including his first-career home run, and a career-high tying three runs batted in. Fitzgibbons earned his first collegiate victory after pitching 3.1 shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four batters."
Softball defeats Liberty – Ken Lay, VolsWire.com
One day after winning both games of a doubleheader against the Furman Paladins, the Tennessee Lady Vols softball team shut out the Liberty Flames 6-0. They will next host the Kentucky Wildcats in a three-game series this weekend.
"No. 21 Tennessee used two-run homers by Ally Shipman and Kiki Milloy to down the Flames, 6-0, in an afternoon game at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.After a scoreless first inning, Tennessee (26-5) broke through when Shipman, a catcher, clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the second frame."