Tennessee Vols morning report: New NCAA NIL guidelines
With many spring sports starting to wind down, the middle of the week won’t always carry lots of news surrounding the Tennessee Vols. However, even when that happens, national news appears to pick up the slack, many of those stories have their own relevance when it comes to the UT athletic program.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with one of those stories. The NCAA is apparently working on a set of NIL guidelines that seems to be somewhat targeted toward Big Orange Country based on the rumors and public complaints that have happened recently in recruiting.
Beyond that main story, though, there’s a bit of ongoing in-game action for us to get to. We’ve got a baseball preview to bring you along with coverage of one individual in the women’s golf NCAA Regionals, so let’s dive in, starting with the NCAA news.
NCAA addresses boosters with new NIL guidelines – Dan Murphy, ESPN
Due to issues with boosters’ involvement in recruiting, the NCAA has released a new set of guidelines related to name image and likeness. It’s unclear how this affects the Tennessee Vols, but the new ruling requires boosters avoid contact with recruits. Schools may be retroactively punished for egregious violations of these rules.
"The guidelines were crafted by a working group of athletic directors and conference commissioners who were tasked earlier this year with reviewing the evolving marketplace for college athletes. The NCAA updated its rules last summer to allow college athletes to make money by selling the rights to their name, image and likeness"
Baseball to host Bellarmine – UTSports
Despite losing two of three to the Kentucky Wildcats this past weekend, the Tennessee Vols baseball team remained No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and the D1Baseball Top 25, but they fell to No. 2 in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Top 25. Now they are set to host the Bellarmine Knights for a midweek single-game showdown Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
"The Vols are looking for their 12th midweek victory of the season on Tuesday. It would be only the third time UT has logged a dozen midweek wins in a single season since 2001."
Mikayla Bardwell finishes first day of NCAA Regionals – NCAA.com
Taking part in the NCAA Franklin Regional, Tennessee Lady Vols senior golfer shot two-over on the first day to tie for 28th place out of 66 golfers at the event. The next round begins Tuesday morning, and the event will last through Wednesday.
"Alabama’s Polly Mack had the round of the day with seven-straight birdies on the back nine to finish at seven-under (65). Mack slipped up on the first two holes with a double bogey and bogey, but was able to settle down with three birdies to finish at even-par going into the back."