Tennessee Vols morning report: SEC Media Days schedule, Rick Barnes
The NFL Draft has arrived, and as we have done all week, we’ll continue our coverage of the Tennessee Vols players involved. UT also made a ton of news by scoring a big commitment on the recruiting trail for 2022 Wednesday in four-star quarterback Tayven Jackson. Obviously, there’s a lot happening within the football program right now.
Our morning update on Rocky Top actually leads with another tidbit of information related to the program. We have an update to bring you on a major summer event, one that didn’t happen last year and is a welcome return. It’s also the first time new head coach Josh Heupel will be at that event as a member of Big Orange Country.
Beyond that, we also have a media session involving multiple men’s basketball coaches do bring you, one that generates even more excitement for the state of the program. We’ll close with a preview of a baseball series set to start today. So let’s go ahead and dive in, starting with the football news.
SEC Media Days schedule set – SECSports
After not taking place last year due to COVID, SEC Media Days is about to be back and is returning to Alabama. The schedule came out on Wednesday, and the event is set to last from Monday, July 19 through Thursday, July 22 at in Hoover, Ala. at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel. On Tuesday, July 20, the Tennessee Vols football team will take the stage.
"The Wynfrey Hotel has been the site of the signature event 18 times in the last 19 occurrences. SEC Football Media Days was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was last held in July of 2019, also in Hoover."
Rick Barnes, new assistants meet with media – Rob Lewis, VolQuest.com
It’s been a wild offseason for the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team. On the heels of all the roster updates, head coach Rick Barnes met with the media Thursday along with his two new assistants, Justin Gainey and Rod Clark. Barnes talked about the roster turnover and what he feels about the current make-up of it. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“We’re more than excited because we just feel like the needs that we felt like we needed to address, we addressed, but the things that’s exciting too, we had a good spring. We didn’t have one a year ago, and the guys in the program that remained, I thought really had a great spring."
Gainey talked about what stood out about the UT basketball program and made him want to join, noting that being from North Carolina meant the Vols were always on his radar. Here’s a bit of what he said about choosing to join the program.
"“I’ve had a couple people that I’ve known that have been here before, have worked here before, and they’ve always had great things to say about it, and so when the opportunity presented itself, for me it was a no-brainer. To work with a legendary, Hall-of-Fame coach at this great program, it was an easy call for me.”"
Clark talked about the opportunity to work under a coach like Barnes. He called it a “huge honor,” especially given his familiarity with Barnes having grown up in Kansas City, Mo. while the Missouri Tigers were still in the Big 12 and Barnes was still coaching the Texas Longhorns.
"“For me it’s kind of, working with a guy that could be seen as being an idol of mine for a long time in my life. It’s a complete dream come true for me.”"
Baseball begins series with Kentucky – UTSports
Coming off a shocking 4-1 loss to the Lipscomb Bisons Tuesday, the Tennessee Vols baseball team resumes SEC play Thursday with a three-game series that begins against the Kentucky Wildcats. UT comes in at 32-10 and 12-6 in SEC play.
"The Vols have won five of their six SEC series so far after taking two of three games at Texas A&M last weekend, exploding for 20 runs in Sunday’s rubber game to clinch the series.The Wildcats are coming off a series win of their own, sweeping a Sunday doubleheader against Alabama after dropping the opener."