Tennessee Vols morning report: Basketball begins preseason practice
With the SEC season underway for the Tennessee Vols football program, men’s basketball talk is now starting as well. That’s what makes the fall such an exciting time to be a sports fan, as all of them are either underway or beginning to get underway.
Our morning update on Rocky Top actually includes a story involve men’s basketball starting to get underway. The season begins in just over a month and a half, and their first exhibition game is 31 days away, so more news will likely come with this program in the future.
There’s still ongoing football coverage, though, as two assistants and three players spoke about this upcoming week’s game. We’ll break down what they all said. Finally, there’s a volleyball preview to bring you as well, so we have plenty to cover. Let’s start with basketball.
Preseason begins for men’s basketball – Ken Lay, VolsWire
A day after Rick Barnes addressed reporters at his annual golf tournament to benefit the Emerald Youth Foundation, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team held its first preseason practice. UT begins preseason with seven newcomers, including six freshmen. Barnes even addressed school leadership when speaking about the start of practice Monday. Here’s what he said.
"“I think they made an unbelievably great hire for us with Danny White (as athletics director) and his staff. What they are doing, and the direction they are taking the entire athletic department.”"
Two assistants, three players talk Missouri – UTSports
Ahead of the Tennessee Vols football program’s matchup with the Missouri Tigers this weekend, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and running backs coach Jerry Mack spoke with the media Tuesday. They were joined by running backs Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans along with defensive back Theo Jackson. Mack discussed his rotation. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“We always start with that thought process of two-to-one or one-to-two, or whatever the situation may be. As the game progresses, that’s where we feel like we have to get a situation where maybe a guy has a hot hand, we get him more touches or more involved in the series.”"
Jean-Mary talked about his evaluation of the linebackers’ instincts based on what he’s seen through four games. This is how he described them.
"“At this point, you would hope they would be pretty greased up in terms of their eyes being in the right spot and the instincts all come from film and pregame preparation as far as knowing your opponent, recognizing formations and tendencies. We’ve been OK. I’m not going to say we’ve been great. “"
Evans talked about staying consistent after an explosive performance last week. Here’s how he said he approaches it.
"“Really, it’s just a battle with myself. I have standards I’m trying to hold myself at. You know what I’m saying? Just approaching it with the same mindset every day and the getting the outcome that I got.”"
Small talked about his communication with the quarterback and cleaning up pre-snap mistakes. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“It can be cleaned up, that’s the little things. Little things, they lead to big things, so that’s just something we have to clean up during the week. We’ll get better at that.”"
Jackson talked about young players contributing across the board. This is his analysis of how they have performed so far.
"“I feel like that they’re doing a great job. Their confidence is high and with Christian Charles being so young, he’s really listened to us more because we’ve been playing for a while.”"
Volleyball to host Auburn – UT Daily Beacon
On the heels of sweeping the Arkansas Razorbacks this past weekend, the No. 20 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols return to the court Wednesday night to take on the Auburn Tigers. The match will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
"The Lady Vols have a 10-2 record this season, with their two losses coming at the hands of No. 2 Pittsburgh in a thrilling five set clash, and No. 4 Purdue in straight sets. The Lady Vols completed a two game, back-to-back, sweep over Arkansas last weekend to open up SEC play and look to improve on their 2-0 conference record against Auburn."