Tennessee Vols morning report: Rick Barnes talks Olivier Nkamhoua injury
Not a lot happened when it came to the Tennessee Vols Monday, as there were no scheduled events. However, that doesn’t mean lots of news didn’t break, and on the men’s basketball front, some of that news has turned out to be heartbreaking for everybody following UT.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with coverage of the weekly men’s basketball press conference that took place Monday. Details of an injury were revealed, which we’ll discuss, along with what was said about this upcoming week’s slate of games.
There was some good news on the basketball front, though, as one player was recognized by the SEC. Recognition from the league also carried over into softball Monday, and we’ll touch on that as well, so we still have plenty to cover. Let’s start with the basketball presser.
Rick Barnes, Kennedy Chandler talk week ahead – Ben McKee, VolQuest
At 16-6 and 7-3 in the SEC, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team moved up to No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll this week. However, it was revealed that Olivier Nkamhoua’s injury is likely season-ending, as he needs ankle surgery. Rick Barnes and Kennedy Chandler both spoke Monday. Here’s what Barnes said about going on without Nkamhoua.
"“It’ll be Brandon (Huntley-Hatfield), Jonas Aidoo, we’ve played Jahmai Mashack at the four some too, so, again, between those guys, it’s going to be who gives us the best chance to win basketball games, and it will get down to who is the better defensive player. They’re all young, all three of them are freshmen, we think they have the ability to score, but we need out of them is consistency on the defensive end, and that will be who gets those minutes."
Chandler, meanwhile, talked about the improvement in offensive efficiency over the past two games. He had 11 points and 10 assists against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday. This is his explanation for it.
"“I feel like we are pushing the ball more. We are not walking the ball up the court, we’re pushing it, getting up with speed, and I feel like nobody is overthinking like we did these past couple of games that we had earlier in the year. We were all overthinking about certain shots to take and what we should do. Now, I feel like everyone is playing with more confidence and it’s going to keep going and continue to get better and better by watching film and continuing to learn from the mistakes that we made.”"
Zakai Zeigler recognized by SEC – SECSports
After having a huge role in the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team’s dominant offensive performances in both games last week, point guard Zakai Zeigler was named SEC Freshman of the Week. This is the first time he won the Southeastern Conference award and the second time a UT player won it this year, as Chandler won it back in November.
"He scored 14 points, had three assists and two steals in Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M. After being held scoreless in the first half against South Carolina, tied a career-high with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field (4-of-5 from 3) while also dishing out three assists and recording three steals."
Two Lady Vols named Preseason Softball All-SEC – UTSports
Junior outfielder Kiki Milloy and senior pitcher Ashley Rogers represented Tennessee Lady Vols softball on this year’s Preseason All-SEC team. The players were voted on by the coaches.
"An outfielder from Woodinville, Washington, Milloy comes off a breakout sophomore campaign in which she led the Big Orange with 59 hits, 50 runs scored and a 1.103 OPS.…Rogers dominated opposing batters throughout the 2021 season and led the SEC with a 1.32 ERA and .132 opponent batting average."