Tennessee defensive back Nigel Warrior spoke to the media in the postgame after UT’s Chevrolet Orange and White Spring Game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville Saturday night.
The Tennessee football team held it’s final spring practice of 2019 before this Saturday’s Chevrolet Orange and White spring game at Neyland Stadium. 99.1 The Sports Animal, as always, was there at practice. Watch some of the footage below.
Tennessee running backs coach David Johnson spoke with the media in a group session Thursday night.
Tennessee offensive line coach Will Friend spoke with the media in a group session Thursday night.
Tennessee inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Kevin Sherrer spoke with the media in a group session Thursday night.
By: Jimmy Hyams
You might be wondering why the University of Tennessee hasn’t hosted a men’s NCAA Tournament game in almost two decades.
You might be wondering why Thompson-Boling Arena – an inviting venue that seats almost 22,000 – hasn’t been featured in March Madness since 1999.
The answer is simple: TBA doesn’t qualify.
That has robbed local fans of seeing some exhilarating college basketball.
Like in 1990, when Georgia Tech, led by Dennis Scott and Kenny Anderson, upset an LSU team with Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Jackson.
Like in 1994, when Duke and Grant Hill, and Kansas and Roy Williams, and Purdue and Glen Robinson and Cuonzo Martin, and Marquette and Kevin O’Neill took the court.
Like in 1999, when Ohio State and Michael Redd, and Auburn and Chris Porter, and St. John’s and Ron Artest, and Maryland and Gary Williams were the featured teams in a regional final.
You know by now Knoxville loves high-level college hoops.
The Vols proved that again this year by averaging over 19,000 per home game to rank No. 4 in the nation in attendance.
So why no more NCAA men’s Tournament games?
TBA no longer fits the NCAA requirements.
The criteria has changed through the years. A venue must have at least four locker rooms, a media area for CBS, TBS, or TNT, climate-controlled meeting rooms for NCAA and TV officials, and a more expansive media work room.
TBA lost some of that space to expand the Vols and Lady Vols’ locker rooms. It uses other space for storage. It has limited back space area.
All of those things are not required to host the first two rounds of the NCAA women’s tournament. But they are for the men’s events.
The last time UT submitted a bid – and lost – was about 10 to 12 years ago.
There has been no need to offer another bid because TBA doesn’t qualify.
UT would have to renovate TBA to host another round of the NCAA Tournament.
It’s worth considering.
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes announced Friday that Kim English has joined the Volunteers full-time staff as an assistant coach.
English fills the staff vacancy created when Rob Lanier accepted the Georgia State head coaching position last week.
Prior to his hiring at Tennessee, English spent two seasons as an assistant coach on Tad Boyle’s staff at Colorado. During that time, the Buffaloes posted back-to-back winning seasons, going 40-28. Colorado reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 NIT and finished with the third-most wins in program history (23).
In May 2018, the NABC included English on its 2017-18 Under Armour 30-under-30 listing, which honored up-and-coming young collegiate coaches. He was one of only five selections from “Power Five” programs.
Recognized as a rising star in the profession, English was drafted and played for the Detroit Pistons before venturing into the coaching ranks.
“Kim is outstanding,” Barnes said. “When I coached against him, I loved his competitive fire. And when he got into coaching and I spent time with him on the road recruiting, I knew there was something special about him. He’s got tremendous energy and drive and is a great communicator. Our players will love working with him.
“He’s going to make a huge impact on our program, and I’m excited to welcome him and his wonderful wife and family to Knoxville.”
In 2018-19, English helped Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright IV earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors. Bey also was named Pac-12 Most Improved Player after leading the Buffaloes with 13.6 points and 9.9 rebounds and logging 17 double-doubles. In English’s first season at Colorado, he coached All-Pac-12 honoree George King, who was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft.
From 2015-17, English worked for two years under Frank Haith at Tulsa—earning a promotion to assistant coach after one season as director of player development. During that time, he helped mentor a pair of All-American Athletic Conference selections, and the Golden Hurricane earned a bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
A four-year letterman under coaches Mike Anderson and Haith at Missouri from 2008-12, English scored more than 1,500 points and averaged 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game for the Tigers. He earned third-team All-Big 12 honors in 2010 and 2012, and Missouri won 107 games during his four-year career, making him and two teammates the winningest players in program history.
The Tigers won a school-record 31 games while making a run to the 2009 Elite Eight in English’s freshman campaign.
He averaged a career-best 14.5 points as a senior in 2011-12 and ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 78 3-point makes, while leading Missouri to 30 wins, one of two Big 12 Tournament titles during his career and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Big 12 Tournament after averaging 23.0 points and shooting 78 percent during the Tigers’ championship run.
The Pistons selected English with the 44th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, and he appeared in 41 games during the 2012-13 season.
He then spent two years playing professionally overseas and had a brief stint with the Chicago Bulls in 2014.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, English received his degree in general studies from Missouri in 2012. He and his wife, Jessica, have a daughter, Celine.
UT Athletics
In a new video, Keith Urban shared the intimate story behind recording “Burden,” the tune he performed at the ACM Awards on April 7.
Penned by Irish singer/songwriter Foy Vance, “Burden” had a profound impact on Keith when he heard it for the first time in March.
“We played at the 02 in London and Ed [Sheeran] came out to see us play,” says Keith in the new video. “We talked about Foy [Vance], who’s an incredible musician and songwriter. The next day, I had a day off in London, so I got on my bike and put my headphones on and road around London for like two hours listening to Foy nonstop.
“And when I got back to Nashville, I realized that I had never seen him play live—he must be fantastic—so I jumped on YouTube and heard this song ‘Burden’ and just fell in love with him. I thought, ‘I’d love to be able to do a version of the song—the way that I was feeling it in my heart.’”
Keith contacted producer Dave Cobb, who he had never worked with, and recorded the song in Nashville.
“It’s just a song that moved me,” says Keith.
photo by Jason Simanek
Dierks Bentley released an uplifting new video for his latest single, “Living.”
The new clip, which was directed by longtime collaborator Wes Edwards (“Drunk on a Plane,” “Riser”), stars Dierks’ five-year-old son, Knox. The father-son tandem do a lot of “living” in the new video, including spending time at the water park, playing in the backyard, singing karaoke, jamming on guitars and much more.
“‘Living’ certainly celebrates life’s big moments and adventures, but for me it’s even more about being intentional and present in everyday moments,” said Dierks. “Knox is at that age where he can still find the biggest joy in the smallest things, and that childlike appreciation for life is the spirit I wanted to bring to this video to remind us of difference between just being alive and actually ‘living.’”
Penned by Dierks, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley and Jon Nite, “Living” is the third single from Dierks’ 2018 album, Mountain, following back-to-back No. 1 singles “Woman, Amen” and “Burning Man.”
Watch the new video for “Living.”
photo courtesy of The GreenRoom
Blake Shelton dropped a fiery video for his new single, “God’s Country,” on April 12.
The new tune is the first sample of music from Blake’s upcoming 12th studio album. Penned by Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt and Devin Dawson, “God’s Country” follows Blake’s previous Top 10 single, “Turnin’ Me On,” which was featured on his 2017 album, Texoma Shore.
“‘God’s Country’ is a song that has a strong and deep meaningful lyric, but at the same time it leaves it up to the listeners interpretation,” Blake said. “But no matter where you are from or where you’re standing it is my belief that you’re standing in God’s Country. It’s really about a state of mind. Wherever you’re from and how you feel about that place. For me it’s about being from Oklahoma—where I was born, raised and still live today.”
Watch the video for “God’s Country” below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
