KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee athletic department was well represented on the list of 2020 Chancellor’s Honors Banquet award recipients, as the Office of the Chancellor recognized students, faculty, staff and friends of the university for their extraordinary achievements Tuesday afternoon.
52 student-athletes from 16 different teams were honored by their respective colleges with the Extraordinary Academic Achievement Award, while dual-sport standout Maya Neal was one of four individuals chosen university-wide for the Extraordinary Community Service Award.
Extraordinary Academic Achievement honors are awarded to undergraduates who exhibit extraordinary scholarship. To be eligible for nomination, a student must have completed 90 credit hours with a cumulative grade-point average above 3.0. Award winners were determined by each college.
The Extraordinary Community Service Award honors students and student organizations that exhibit the Volunteer spirit in the community. A captain for both the soccer and track & field teams, Neal has worked with numerous campus and community service initiatives as a member of the VOLeaders Academy and community outreach co-chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Neal has used her platform as a Tennessee student-athlete to impact the community on a local and global scale. Last semester, she hosted a shoe drive as part of the UTAD’s Week of Giving — collecting more than 100 pairs of athletic shoes to donate to children in Puerto Rico. As the community outreach co-chair for SAAC, she also helped organize and oversee multiple community service events hosted by the athletic department.
On the field of competition, Neal enjoyed a well decorated collegiate career on Rocky Top as a four-time All-SEC soccer player and an All-American heptathlete. She recently signed a contract with Le Havre AC, a professional soccer club based in Le Havre, France.
Chancellor’s Honors Award recipients are typically celebrated during the Chancellor’s Honors Banquet each spring. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the banquet was canceled and awards had to be presented remotely.
Chancellor’s Honors Banquet Award Recipients – Tennessee Athletics
Extraordinary Community Service Award Maya Neal – Soccer/Track & Field
Extraordinary Academic Achievement Award (sorted by sport)
Baseball (2) Landon Gray – Haslam College of Business Nico Mascia – Tickle College of Engineering
Men’s Basketball (1) Jacob Fleschman – Haslam College of Business
Women’s Basketball (2) Rennia Davis – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Kasiyahna Kushkituah – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Football (4) Paxton Brooks – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Andrew Craig – Haslam College of Business Trey Smith – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Jake Yelich – Haslam College of Business
Men’s Golf (4) Rhys Nevin – College of Arts & Sciences Chip Thomas – Haslam College of Business Sean Wilcox – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Hunter Wolcott – Haslam College of Business
Women’s Golf (1) Mariah Smith – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Soccer (3) McKinley Burkett – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Katie Cousins – College of Arts & Sciences Erin Gilroy – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Softball (6) Tianna Batts – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Cailin Hannon – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Aubrey Leach – College of Arts & Sciences Treasuary Poindexter – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Chelsea Seggern – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Katie Weimer – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Men’s Swimming & Diving (3) Kyle DeCoursey – Herbert College of Agriculture Matthew Garcia – Haslam College of Business Nathan Murray – Herbert College of Agriculture
Men’s Tennis (1) Luca Wiedenmann – Haslam College of Business
Women’s Tennis (1) Ariadna Riley – College of Arts & Sciences
Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country (3) Nate Harper – College of Arts & Sciences Joseph Maxwell – Haslam College of Business Tristan Slater – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country (5) Nicole Adams – College of Arts & Sciences Brooklynn Broadwater – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Megan Murray – College of Arts & Sciences Sarah Reeves – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Alaina Riordan – College of Arts & Sciences
Volleyball (2) Alyssa Andreno – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences Asha Phillips – College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
I was thinking about Gwen Stefani’s career today . . . and something dawned on me:
From fronting No Doubt to her solo career, Gwen’s collective body of work across multiple genres is impressive, to say the least.
Her latest feat? Gwen topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart this week for the first time with “Nobody But You,” her duet with boyfriend Blake Shelton. Gwen has now scored No. 1 singles on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, Billboard pop chart, Billboard rap chart and Billboard country chart.
Take a look at a partial list of Billboard chart highlights from Gwen’s career.
No. 1 Singles with No Doubt
Billboard Mainstream Top 40: “Don’t Speak” (12/13/1996)
Billboard Mainstream Top 40: “Hey Baby” feat. Bounty Killer (3/1/2002)
Billboard Mainstream Top 40: “Underneath It All” feat. Lady Shaw (11/1/2002)
No. 1 Singles as a Solo Artist
Billboard Rap Airplay: “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” by Eve feat. Gwen Stefani (7/6/2001)
Billboard Mainstream Top 40: “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” by Eve feat. Gwen Stefani (8/24/2001)
Billboard Hot 100: “Hollaback Girl” (5/6/2005)
Billboard Mainstream Top 40: “Hollaback Girl” (5/20/2005)
Billboard Country Airplay: “Nobody But You” with Blake Shelton (5/1/2020)
Over the course of her 30-plus-year career, Gwen has built a remarkable résumé, especially when you think of it in terms of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which isn’t just for “rock” acts anymore. In fact, you can make a compelling case that No Doubt deserves to be in the HOF now.
Performers become eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first record. No Doubt released its self-titled debut album in 1992, while Gwen released her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., in 2004. Criteria for the Hall of Fame include the “influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.”
With No. 1 singles that span more than 23 years across multiple genres, Gwen’s musical catalog is gaining more and more “significance” every year.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Vol offensive guard Trey Smith has been tabbed as the Tennessee Co-Amateur Male Athlete of the Year, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday.
Smith shared the honor with Vanderbilt baseball’s Kumar Rocker. The awards are scheduled to be formally presented as part of the Hall of Fame’s annual induction ceremony on Aug. 1 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Smith is the first Tennessee football player to receive the award since Eric Berry won it three years in a row from 2008-10.
Smith, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, has established himself as one of the greatest offensive linemen in Vol history. The owner of 31 career starts, Smith elected to come back for his senior season to obtain his degree, improve his draft stock and continue to lead the program back to national prominence.
Smith garnered first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in 2019, appearing in all 13 games with 12 starts and leading the Vols on a six-game winning streak and a victory over Indiana in the Gator Bowl. Off the field, Smith has been a leader in the community. He was named the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and was the inaugural recipient of the Fritz Pollard Trophy, given to the collegiate player who has exemplified extraordinary courage, community values and exceptional performance on the field.
This is the fifth straight year in which a Tennessee student-athlete has captured at least a share of the TSHF’s Male Amateur Athlete of the Year, as men’s basketball’s Grant Williams (2019, 2018) and sprinter Christian Coleman (2017, 2016) each won the honor in back-to-back years.
Established in 1966, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame honors figures from every sport including basketball, baseball, football, golf, soccer and track & field, along with coaches, teams, sports writers and others who made an impact. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development oversees all operations along with the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
Tenille Townes announced she will release her debut album, The Lemonade Stand, on June 26.
Produced by Jay Joyce, The Lemonade Stand features 12 songs, all of which were co-penned by Tenille, including her major-label debut single, “Somebody’s Daughter.”
“The Lemonade Stand is a collection of songs that mean so much to me and are the way I see the world in this season of my life right now,” says Tenille. “I want this music to be like a gathering place, where people can come and be filled up. I hope this record reminds people of who they are, that they are not alone, and reminds them of their dreams. This record is the dream that I had when I was a seven-year-old kid singing along in the backseat of the car. She would really be freaking out right now.”
Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line have released collaborations with some of music’s biggest stars, including Luke Bryan (“This Is How We Roll”), The Backstreet Boys (“God, Your Mama and Me”) Bebe Rexha (“Meant to Be”), Justin Bieber (“Yummy Country Remix”) and more.
On Feb. 25, the duo made a public plea via Instagram for a collaboration with Carrie Underwood: “@carrieunderwood whether you know it or not, we are huge fans of you and we have always wanted to do a song with you we’ve just been waiting on the right one……We think this is [hot].”
During the Instagram video, Tyler and Brian reveal they co-wrote a new song with Julia Michaels as it begins to play in the background.
“We think it would be a massive collaboration,” said Tyler. “We’d love to send it to you, but we don’t have your email or your phone number, so we’re just gonna play a little [of the song].”
Tyler and Brian shared a laugh with a good-natured response:
“No, we got turned down on that one, you don’t win em all, Cody,” said Tyler. “I guess she didn’t love it as much as we did, but that’s alright.”
“I think she said it was amazing and she’d love to, but it was right around her book tour release and so she was super busy and didn’t really have time, but who knows, who knows where it will go,” added Tyler. “Now it’s just open game.”
Toby Keith paid tribute to the Statler Brothers’ Harold Reid by covering the quartet’s most popular tune, “Flowers on the Wall.” Harold, who passed away on April 24 at the age of 80, was the longtime bass vocalist in the Statler Brothers.
Toby covered “Flowers on the Wall” during his YouTube quarantine series, The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions.
“Boy, we lost a good one . . . Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers, what a legend,” said Toby. “Great guy, great entertainer, great singer. What a career. Rest in peace, Harold. Let’s do a Statler Brothers song today.”
Updated after Daniel Bituli signed with he Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday.
The University of Tennessee’s presence in the NFL is not what it used to be.
Here’s the updated list of UT players currently on NFL rosters with a complete breakdown by division, by position and as well as players that started at Tennessee and transferred, in my blog, “Vince’s View.”
Steve Wyche from the NFL Network told me recently, “Man, I just remember the days when Tennessee used to flood the NFL with first and second round draft picks. It kind of goes to where the state of program is right now.”
The state of the program that he’s talking about is obviously the rough years, the multiple rebuilds and the lack of volume of high draft pick talent headed to the league. That looks to be moving towards a positive change when it comes to sending more players to the NFL. It’s going to take Pruitt’s players and the Tennessee program winning big to change the draft pick totals significantly. That should improve some next season. Then you could potentially see a bigger group the following year that will be Jeremy Pruitt signed and developed players.
How lean have the draft pick numbers from the University of Tennessee been in recent years? Here’s the last 6 years for the Vols in the NFL Draft. 2015 – 0 2016 – 0 2017 – 6 2018 – 3 2019 – 0 2020 – 2 Total = 11 draft picks in 6 years
Shy Tuttle – Saints DL / Credit: UT Athletics
Take out 2017 and it’s 5 draft picks in 5 years…from a proud SEC program, the University of Tennessee. To put it in perspective, Temple has had more draft picks (12) the last six years than UT. LSU had more players drafted in 3 days (14) than UT has had in 6 years.
So why is it that UT is still decently represented on NFL rosters (38 VFLs) while having so few draft picks? Who signed most of those players?
Well, I did a deep dive into that subject. I’ve listed below each signing class since 2000 and the “current” NFL players from those classes. The numbers paint an easy to understand picture.
There are currently 46 players in the NFL right now that played at UT…38 are VFLs and 8 left and finished their careers at another school. The fact that 8 players that are NFL worthy left UT stands out. Of the 8, 7 fall in the lap of Butch Jones. 6 were Butch Jones signees. One other, Nathan Peterman, was a Dooley signee that left during Jones’ tenure. All of the players that Butch Jones signed and then left, set the program back with those huge holes on the roster. Jones constantly voiced about the team lacking depth, which it did in large part because of those departures. As it turns out, some of those players that transferred had some talent, enough to get to and stay in the NFL.
Yes, in the transfer world we’re in, this is more and more common. However, many of these moves happened prior to the transfer explosion and they left one coach in such large volume, I think it’s more noteworthy than that in this situation for one school, Tennessee.
These UT players in the NFL numbers reflect only current players on NFL rosters, not every player that has reached an NFL roster but no longer there. There are plenty more of those as well.
Current UT NFL Players (VFLs & one-time Vols) Listed By Coach Who Signed Them Jeremy Pruitt – 1 Butch Jones – 28 Derek Dooley – 13 Lane Kiffin – 0 Phillip Fulmer – 4
Emmanuel Moseley – 49ers CB / Credit: UT Athletics
Butch Jones’ 5 signing classes have only produced 12 draft picks (just one 1st round pick – Derek Barnett) so far, including those that have reached the NFL since Jeremy Pruitt has taken over at Tennessee.
Of the 46 players in the NFL that were at UT at some point, five were originally walk-ons.
Another interesting point in looking at the UT players in the National Football League is the large number of undrafted free agents in the NFL right. In turn, it’s revealing how few that are there were drafted. LSU’s rookie class of 14 draft picks is just three short of all Tennessee players. That’s telling also. Here’s a look at those draft pick numbers.
Total: 20 of the 46 were drafted (43%) 17 of 38 VFLs were drafted (45%) 3 of 8 one-time Vols that transferred were drafted (38%)
Total: 26 of the 46 were undrafted free agents (57%) 21 of 38 VFLs were undrafted free agents (55%) 5 of 8 one-time Vols that transferred were undrafted free agents (62%)
I asked Charles Davis of the NFL Network and CBS Sports about all the undrafted free agents that have stuck in the NFL from UT, many of them that were signed by Butch Jones. Here’s what he said about that.
“These kids still went in there with belief in themselves and said ‘hey I’m going to go out there and show that everybody made a mistake for not drafting me.’ You got to give them credit for that. The other side is, for whatever you want to say, we were really close twice with Coach Jones, right? 2015 could have been a year early, right? The Oklahoma game still fries me. When you look back, Florida, those sorts of things. My point being, there was talent there.”
Ae you’ll see below, Butch Jones brought much of the current talent to Tennessee that’s currently in the NFL, whether they finished on Rocky Top or not. Here’s how the numbers shook out.
Total: 28 of the 46 that were at UT at one point were signed by Butch Jones (61%) 22 of 38 VFLs were signed by Butch Jones (58%) 6 of the 8 one-time Vols were signed by Butch Jones (75%)
Plenty of NFL talent was signed by Butch Jones, no doubt, but it wasn’t developed at a consistent enough level. Jones’ five seasons netted him a 34-27 coaching record. In some cases players weren’t used enough. Too many players left the program. Then, those signed players have gone on to develop at the highest level with NFL coaching.
See the full list of current UT NFL players, the VFLs and the one-time Vols that transferred, listed by signing class below.
Jeremy Pruitt Classes (1)
2019
None
2018
TE – Dominick Wood-Anderson (–) Seattle Seahawks – x UDFA
Butch Jones Classes (28)
2017
None
2016
DE – Jonathan Kongbo (61) San Francisco 49ers UDFA
S – Nigel Warrior (–) Baltimore Ravens – x – UDFA
WR – Marquez Callaway (–) New Orleans Saints – x – UDFA
TE – Daniel Bituli (–) Los Angeles Rams – x UDFA
2015
DE – Darrell Taylor (–) Seattle Seahawks – x – 2nd Rd
RB – Alvin Kamara (41) New Orleans Saints – 3rd Rd
OG – Kahlil McKenzie (62) Seattle Seahawks – 6th Rd
RB – John Kelly (42) Los Angeles Rams – 6th Rd
WR – Jauan Jennings (81) San Francisco 49ers – x – 7th Rd
DE – Kyle Phillips (98) New York Jets – UDFA
DT – Shy Tuttle (99) New Orleans Saints – UDFA
WR – Preston Williams (18) Miami Dolphins (U. of Tennessee/Colorado St) – UDFA
TE – Eli Wolf (–) Baltimore Ravens (U. of Tennessee/Georgia) (walk-on) – UDFA
P – Tommy Townsend (–) Kansas City Chiefs (U. of Tennessee/Florida) – UDFA
2014
DE – Derek Barnett (96) Philadelphia Eagles – 1st Rd
DB – Rashaan Gaulden (38) New York Giants – 3rd Rd
WR – Josh Malone (83) New York Jets – 4th Rd
CB – Emmanuel Moseley (41) San Francisco 49ers – UDFA
TE – Ethan Wolf (84) Los Angeles Rams – UDFA
FB – Jakob Johnson (47) New England Patriots – UDFA
WR – Jalen Hurd (14) San Francisco 49ers (U. of Tennessee/Baylor) – 3rd Rd
TE – Daniel Helm (43) San Francisco 49ers (U. of Tennessee/Duke) – UDFA
DE – Dewayne Hendrix (–) Pittsburgh Steelers (U. of Tennessee/Pitt) – UDFA
2012
WR/KR – Cordarrelle Patterson (84) Chicago Bears – 1st Rd
NT – Dan McCullers (93) Pittsburgh Steelers – 6th Rd
TE – Jason Croom (80) Buffalo Bills – UDFA
QB – Nathan Peterman (3) Las Vegas Raiders (U. of Tennessee/Pitt) – 5th Rd
2011
CB – Justin Coleman (27) Detroit Lions – UDFA
ILB – Alexander Johnson (45) Denver Broncos – UDFA
OLB – Jordan Williams (40) Tennessee Titans – UDFA
TE – Alex Ellis (85) Philadelphia Eagles (walk-on) – UDFA
2010
OT – Ja’Wuan James (70) Denver Broncos – 1st Rd
DT – Malik Jackson (97) Philadelphia Eagles *transfer year from USC – 5th Rd
OG – Zach Fulton (73) Houston Texans – 6th Rd
QB – Tyler Bray (9) Chicago Bears – UDFA
P – Michael Palardy (5) Carolina Panthers – UDFA
Lane Kiffin Class (0)
2009
None
Phillip Fulmer Classes (4)
2008
None
2007
None
2006
TE – Lee Smith (85) Buffalo Bills (Powell HS/U. of Tennessee/Marshall) – 5th Rd
More than 6,000 radio stations—including all available Cumulus radio stations—will air the Radio Cares’Feeding America Emergency Radiothon on April 30.
The Feeding America Emergency Radiothon will drive donations to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund and its 200 local member food banks. The all-day radiothon will features artists, radio personalities and special guests sharing stories of hope and encouraging donations to feed the hungry.
Country artists Lindsay Ell, RaeLynn, Chris Lane, Locash, Hardy, Jameson Rogers and more are set to take part in the radiothon, as well as artists from across all genres of music, including Weezer, Bush, Meghan Trainor, Linkin Park, Incubus, Cage the Elephant and more.
Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the United States, established the COVID-19 Response Fund on March 13. Since then, Feeding America has distributed $112.4 million and more than 94 million pounds of food to food banks across the country, helping provide nearly 79 million meals to people facing hunger.
The Feeding America Emergency Radiothon is open to all radio stations wishing to participate. To donate to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, click here. You can also text “FEED” to 95819 to have the donation link sent to your phone. All donations go directly to Feeding America.
Cumulus Media is the parent company of Nash Country Daily.
