Tennessee Vols morning report: Kellie Harper talks Chattanooga win, Rick Barnes previews SEC play
It’s an exciting week for the Tennessee Vols main sports programs. Both men’s and women’s basketball will begin SEC play, and the football program will play its bowl game. This leads to lots of fun things for us to cover between now and New Year’s, which is always a fun period.
Our morning update on Rocky Top includes more interviews with players talking about Thursday’s Music City Bowl. We’ve also got interviews in men’s basketball previewing SEC play, and we’ve got interviews in women’s basketball to recap a Monday win.
Finally, there’s an award to dish out in men’s basketball that made news Monday, so we’ve got a lot to touch on today with the next two days being loaded with news. Let’s start with the football interviews that took place.
Four offensive Vols talk Music City Bowl – Austin Price, VolQuest
Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, Jerome Carvin and Jabari Small all talked about the Tennessee Vols’ upcoming Music City Bowl matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers Monday. All of these guys will be back next year, and Hooker talked about the flow of the offense. Here’s some of what he said on that front.
"“We are looking good. Everything if flowing smoothly. Everyone is coming in day-in and day-out, trying to work on getting better.”"
Tillman talked about the decision he made before Christmas to return to Rocky Top next year. Here’s his reasoning for making that move.
"“I’m excited to have it in the past. One of the things that I really look forward to is not only improving as a football player – coming back and being part of this team, I felt like not only finishing strong the next couple days with the game – but next year we have a chance to be really good, so that’s some of the things that played a part in it.”"
Carvin discussed the importance of this Music City Bowl game to him as another player coming back next year. Here’s how he described it.
"“It’s like a statement game, if that makes sense. We have to show what we can do, especially with this offense and the team that we’re playing against. We are playing a really good Big Ten team.”"
Small talked about the importance of finishing the season off the right way. Here’s a bit of what he said on the significance of that.
"“I think it’s a big deal, just so people can get a glimpse of what we can be next year and starting off on the right foot for 2022. It’s just important, finishing off strong, just finishing what we started.”"
UT releases Music City Bowl depth chart – Matt Ray, SI.com
Questions about more Tennessee Vols football team opt-outs were put to rest Monday with the Vols releasing their Music City Bowl depth chart against the Purdue Boilermakers. Alontae Taylor is still out, but it looks like Cade Mays is slotted in at right tackle.
"“Should Mays be able to go, he will be the starter, but if not, we expect Dayne Davis and Jeremiah Crawford to share time here. Crawford has continued to surge late in the season and is pushing to play.”"
Purdue releases Music City Bowl depth chart – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
In addition to the Tennessee Vols football team, the Purdue Boilermakers also released their depth chart for the Music City Bowl. Wide receiver David Bell and defensive end Georgie Karlaftis opted out of the bowl game for them.
"The contest will take place Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. EST and ESPN will televise the matchup."
Rick Barnes, Olivier Nkamhoua talk SEC play – UTSports
On Monday, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team moved up five spots to No. 14 in the AP Poll and four spots to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll. With their SEC opener set for Wednesday on the road against the Alabama Crimson Tide at 9-2, Rick Barnes and Olivier Nkamhoua talked about where they are. Here’s a bit of what Barnes said about the team being prepared for league play.
"“We tried to prepare our team with a tough non-league schedule, trying to hit as many different variables as we could with the schedule. I think our guys have responded, I do think that we’ve learned from our mistakes and I think we’ve learned from other teams and what they how they go about it.”"
Nkamhoua, meanwhile, talked about getting the younger players getting ready for the demands of the SEC schedule. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“You have to lock into another level, but honestly I think we’ve done a good job of just having a full year—especially this year—a whole intense year. We’ve been pretty consistent this whole time. I think we’ve done a really good job and making non-conference play kind of similar to conference play, but it’s going to pick up in speed a little bit.”"
John Fulkerson recognized by SEC – SECSports
Coming off his performance in the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team’s win over the Arizona Wildcats last week, senior forward John Fulkerson was named Southeastern Conference co-Player of the Week. He shared the award with Kentucky Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe.
"Fulkerson, a 6-foot-9, 219-pound graduate from Kingsport, Tenn., scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and drew 13 fouls in Tennessee’s win over No. 6 Arizona. The performance marked Fulkerson’s seventh career double-double and second of the season."
Kellie Harper, players recap UT Chattanooga win – Maria M. Cornelius, GoVols247
One week after beating the ETSU Bucs, the Tennessee Lady Vols remained No. 7 in the AP Poll Monday and moved to 11-1 ahead of their SEC opener with another 50-plus point win over in an-state Southern Conference team, beating the Chattanooga Mocs 91-41. Kellie Harper, Tamari Key, Jessie Rennie and Kaiya Wynn discussed the win afterward. Here’s a bit of what Harper said.
"“I’m excited that that this game went the way it did. I’m glad that we were able to play a lot of players. I’m really proud of our team and the maturity that we had handling the Christmas break and handling this game. I thought we executed about as well today as we have executed all year.”"
Key talked about the team working on finding its identity. Here’s a bit of how she described the situation after the game.
"“We care about each other, and we want to play for each other. I feel like, because of that, it helps us harden our identity more, because we know what we’re capable of and we know what each other are capable of.”"
Rennie talked about the team’s non-conference performance this year. Here’s how she described everybody’s play on that front.
"“We’ve identified what we need to work on, and moving forward, we’ve done that every game. It’s not about the team we played tonight, it’s about the next two games we have this week and from now on for the rest of the season.”"
Wynn discussed her getting acclimated to the offense and her comfortability with it. Here’s a bit of what she said.
"“Knowing where your teammates get most of their shots and knowing how they like to shoot. Each game I’m getting more comfortable and confident in the offense and playing with my teammates.”"