Tennessee Vols morning report: SEC basketball opponents revealed for 2022-23

Tennessee fans cheer during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football
Tennessee fans cheer during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football /
facebooktwitterreddit

As June winds down for 2022, most coverage surrounding the Tennessee Vols right now is about looking towards the next athletic year. There are multiple stories in multiple sports that came out over the past two days and deal with that specifically, some involving personnel and others involving scheduling for 2022-23.

Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with a scheduling update surrounding the men’s basketball program. A revelation that was confirmed Tuesday made public two more games that UT will be playing this year, even if it’s not clear when exactly they’ll be playing them.

Beyond the basketball scheduling, though, news on the diamond also warranted coverage, as additions to the softball program were made public two days ago. It’s not all looking ahead though, as another baseball award from this past year was given out. Let’s dive into all of these stories, starting with basketball.

UT SEC men’s basketball opponents revealed – Grant Ramey, GoVols247

Although the dates aren’t set yet, it has been confirmed who the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team will play this year in their 18-game schedule. They always play the Vanderbilt Commodores, Kentucky Wildcats and South Carolina Gamecocks twice and everybody else at least once. The other two teams they’ll play twice this year are the Auburn Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs.

"Tennessee’s official schedule so far only lists the Battle 4 Atlantis, Nov. 23-25 in the Bahamas, and the home date with Texas on January 28, a Big 12-SEC Challenge game at Thompson-Boling Arena.The Vols will also have a road game at Arizona and will play Colorado in a neutral-site game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with dates for both games to be announced. A second neutral-site game will be played December 11 against Maryland at Barclays Center in Brooklyn."

Tony Vitello named Regional Coach of the Year – ABCA.org

By keeping the Tennessee Vols baseball team No. 1 through the entire second half of the regular season and all the way to the Super Regionals, head coach Tony Vitello was named the Southeast Division I Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. There are eight regions for that division.

"The ABCA/ATEC Regional and National Coaches of the Year are selected by members of the ABCA All-America & Coach of the Year committees in all nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division and high school.The 2022 ABCA/ATEC National Coaches of the Year in all divisions will be announced Wednesday, June 29."

Softball adds two transfers – UTSports

After Ashley Rogers confirmed her return for a fifth year this past weekend, the Tennessee Lady Vols softball team added two transfers on Monday who will have two years of eligibility on Rocky Top. Mackenzie Donihoo joins UT after three years with the Oklahoma Sooners, and Giulia Koutsoyanopulos arrives after two years with the Arizona Wildcats.

"Donihoo and Koutsoyanopulos join 2022 MAC Pitcher of the Year Payton Gottshall as Tennessee’s transfer additions for the 2022-23 recruiting class. The Lady Vols will bring in 10 true freshmen next year as well, making up a class that was rated No. 7 in the country by Extra Inning Softball."