On Nov. 13 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Plaza, Thomas Rhett teamed with Crown Royal for the Purple Bag Project to benefit U.S. servicemen and women stationed overseas.
TR hosted the volunteer takeover and helped fans fill purple Crown Royal bags with uplifting notes and food items. Chris Lucas and Preston Brust of Locash also stopped by to lend a helping hand.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
Since 2010, Crown Royal has worked with Packages From Home as a national charity partner supporting their purpose of sending thanks to troops overseas. During Purple Bag events, participants are invited to write notes and help stuff care packages for troops. The bags will also be sent to people affected by the recent hurricanes and other natural disasters.
“It’s really cool to be a part of that,” said TR to WKRN News 2. “It’s just a really cool partnering because I feel like our goals and values align as far as the charitable component. My wife and I take pride in that being a big way that we live our lives.”
Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Wednesday that Five-star PG Josiah-Jordan James has signed and submitted a National Letter of Intent and plans to enroll at UT as a freshman in the summer of 2019.
James—currently a senior at Porter-Gaud School in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina—is a national top-20 prospect according to Rivals (No. 14), 247sports (No. 14) and ESPN (No. 20) and is the highest-rated prep basketball player ever to come out of the South Carolina “Lowcountry.”
The 6-7, 200-pound point guard has helped lead Porter-Gaud to three state championships and also was a member of the United States’ team that won gold at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. He is coached at Porter-Gaud by John Pearson.
“Josiah has a great disposition as a true point guard to lead,” Barnes said. “We think he’ll fit right into our culture and what we’re trying to do. He’s already made a great connection with our current players, so much so that it almost feels like he’s been with us for a while. He’s a guy that we expect to make an immediate contribution and that we’ll look to, even as a young player, to bring some leadership qualities to our program.”
James announced his verbal commitment to Tennessee in September. He is the highest-rated prospect to sign with UT since current Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris signed with the Vols in November of 2009.
The state of South Carolina’s highest-rated basketball prospect in the Class of 2019, James has led Porter-Gaud to a combined 75-9 combined record over the last three seasons, including three consecutive SCISA 3A championships.
According to one ESPN recruiting analyst, James boasts “elite perimeter size and a terrific physical profile. He can already impact the game in a multitude of ways but may be just scratching the surface of his potential on both ends of the floor.”
James played his AAU ball with the Charleston-based TMP program under coach Antoine Saunders.
James hails from a tight-knit, basketball family. His father, Kurt James (Michigan State), as well as uncles John James III (Ball State), Kevin James (Alabama State), Anthony Fletcher (Hawai’i) and Noel Gilliard (Furman) all played college basketball. His mother, Sonya Brice, married to Curtis Brice, is a former Division I basketball official. Josiah’s older brother, K.J. James, exhausted his collegiate eligibility at Valdosta State last season after beginning his career at High Point.
Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Wednesday that 6-9 Knoxville native Drew Pember has signed and submitted a National Letter of Intent and plans to enroll at UT as a freshman in the summer of 2019.
According to 247Sports.com, Pember is rated as the No. 7 overall prospect in his class in the state of Tennessee. As a junior, the forward helped lead Bearden High School to the Class AAA state semifinals, where the Bulldogs fell to one of the nation’s top teams in Memphis East despite a 15-point, 10-rebound performance from Pember.
“Drew is extremely skilled,” Barnes said. “He’s a tremendous outside shooter, but he really has the ability to do just about everything on the basketball court. He can pass the ball, rebound, block shots, and he’s a good decision-maker. He needs to get stronger, put some weight on. But Drew’s got a tremendous upside and a real chance to become a complete player for us. We’re really excited about him.”
Pember had been verbally committed to the Vols since June of 2018. A native of Knoxville, he is coached at Bearden by Jeremy Parrott. Bert Bertelkamp, who lettered for the Vols from 1977-80 and is currently the Vol Network color analyst for UT men’s basketball games, also graduated from Bearden (class of 1976).
Pember’s recruitment heated up during his junior campaign, as the 2017-18 first-team All-District 4-AAA honoree averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.7 assists per game en route to helping Bearden post an impressive 38-2 record for the season.
While his height makes him a threat in the post, Pember possesses elite shooting ability for his size and can score from anywhere on the court – especially from beyond the arc. On defense, his long frame makes him a successful rim protector and rebounder for the Bulldogs.
Pember played his AAU ball with the BMaze Elite program, run by former Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze (2008-10). Pember averaged 8.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.4 steals per with BMaze Elite during the summer of 2018.
In addition to Pember and Bertelkamp, another Bearden graduate who has had hardwood success at Tennessee is current Lady Vols head coach Holly Warlick.
Pember joins junior guard Jordan Bowden as the only Knox County natives signed to a Tennessee basketball scholarship as freshmen in the last 30 years.
Earlier this week, Chris Young scored the 11th No. 1 single of his career as “Hangin’ On” topped the Mediabase chart. The tune is the second single from Chris’ 2017 album, Losing Sleep, to hit No. 1, following the title track in February.
While Chris has the option of choosing from eight more possible singles from Losing Sleep, he may be ready to move on from his seventh studio album. Chris treated his fans via Twitter to a sample of a new tune, “Raised On Country,” that name-drops some of his heroes, including George Strait and Willie Nelson.
“What’s up guys, I’ve been hanging out in the studio,” says Chris in the Twitter post. “I’ve been talking a lot about new music. I never ever play anything early, at all, but I’m gonna break tradition a little bit because I’m so pumped about this one.”
Carrie Underwood will return to the stage for the 11th consecutive year to co-host the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley on Nov. 14.
photo by Jason Simanek
After a decade together, the Carrie/Brad tandem has had plenty of hits—and a few misses—when it comes to delivering comedic bits, skits and glitz, but as Carrie told Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown, it’s a role that she and Brad take “very seriously” as they try to keep things “funny and timely.”
“I feel like right now we’re kind of in a challenging time,” says Carrie to Kix. “You know, everybody’s got an opinion about everything [laughing], and it’s so easy to throw one’s opinion out into the world. We take what we do very seriously. We want everyone to have a good night. We want to be funny. We want to be timely, but times are stressful, you know, right now, so it’s like . . . I don’t know. I’m not sure what we’re gonna come up with as far as keeping things light. I’m sure somebody’ll do something dumb before the CMAs . . . We’re always just hoping! Please! Nothing too bad—just something that they can laugh at themselves about and that we can just have a little chuckle at, too, you know? Come on, guys, I need you to step up. Take one for the team!”
Tune in to ABC at 7 p.m. CT on Nov. 14 to see Carrie and Brad in action at the CMA Awards.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 5 Tennessee capped off its season-opening, three-game homestand with a hard-fought 66-53 win over Georgia Tech at Thompson-Boling Arena Tuesday in front of a crowd of 16,219.
Grant Williams led the way for the Vols offensively, scoring 22 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The junior also grabbed eight rebounds.
Tennessee’s defense was stout the entire night, as Georgia Tech (1-1) finished just 28 percent from the field on 16-for-58 shooting. The Yellow Jackets were limited to 3-of-19 (16 percent) from beyond the 3-point line.
Tennessee (3-0) had three players score in double-digits on the night. In addition to Williams’ 22, Jordan Bone finished with 15 points, while Kyle Alexander posted 12 points and nine rebounds. Jordan Bowden finished with a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with five points.
Tennessee held the Yellow Jackets without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to begin the second half, allowing the first basket at the 12:12 mark. During that stretch, Georgia Tech was 0-for-11 from the field while the Vols built their lead to 12.
For the rest of the contest, Tennessee’s lead never slipped to fewer than seven points.
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the game with a layup on their opening possession, but Tennessee answered and would never trail again the rest of the game.
After converting on five consecutive shots, the Vols jumped out to a 27-15 advantage with 6:59 left until halftime. Williams paced all players in the half with 13 points.
The Big Orange defense started with a strong first-half once again, holding Georgia Tech to 29-percent shooting from the floor and 2-of-13 from three. UT entered halftime with a 33-25 lead.
VOLS VS. ACC: With the victory over Georgia Tech, Tennessee has now won four of its last five games against ACC teams. Tuesday’s win over Georgia Tech also marked the third straight season that the Vols have defeated the Yellow Jackets. The Big Orange are currently set to play two more ACC teams this season, facing Louisville in New York City on Nov. 21 and hosting Wake Forest on Dec. 22.
ON THE CUSP OF 1,000: Exiting Tuesday night, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield are each within single digits of 1,000 career points. Williams is just a single point away, as entering the matchup with Georgia Tech he needed 23 to reach 1,000. Schofield needs only four points to reach 1,000.
UP NEXT: Tennessee heads to New York City for the NIT Season Tip-Off next week. The Vols open their stay in the Big Apple with a showdown against Louisville on Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. ET. UT will play again on Nov. 23, facing either No. 1 Kansas or Marquette.
Broadcast Music Inc. held its 66th annual BMI Country Awards on Nov. 13 at its Nashville office to celebrate the songwriters and publishers of the most-performed country songs of the past year.
Award recipients included:
BMI Icon Award: Steve Cropper
Country Songwriter of the Year: Jesse Frasure (Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” and “Unforgettable,” Old Dominion’s “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart,” and Locash’s “Ring on Every Finger”)
Song of the Year: “In Case You Didn’t Know,” written by Tyler Reeve and Trent Tomlinson
Publisher of the Year: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Group
Good Morning America hosts Lara Spencer and Adam Rippon had the honor of announcing the winners in two CMA Awards categories Wednesday (Nov. 14) morning as they broadcast live from Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row restaurant in Nashville. The announcements were made ahead of tonight’s CMA Awards telecast at 7 p.m. CT.
In the Musical Event of the Year category, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” by David Lee Murphy with Kenny Chesney bested the competition, while Video of the Year was awarded to Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me,” which was directed by TK McKamy.
In June, David Lee, scored the second No. 1 single of his career this week with “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” which features vocals from Kenny Chesney. The tune topped both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart. David Lee, who’s probably best known for his 1995 No. 1 hit, “Dust on the Bottle,” hadn’t scored a hit—as a singer—since 2004’s “Loco,” which reached No. 5. But over the last dozen or so years, the Illinois native has stayed busy as a songwriter, penning hits such as “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean), “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” (Thompson Square), “Anywhere With You” (Jake Owen), “The More I Drink” (Blake Shelton), “’Til It’s Gone” (Kenny Chesney) and more. The CMA Award is David Lee’s first.
Thomas Rhett scored the 10th No. 1 single of his career as “Marry Me” ascended to the top of the Mediabase and Billboard Country Airplay charts in March. TR says the twisting tune, which he co-penned with Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Shane McAnally, is his “what if” song.
“‘Marry Me’ is one of my favorite tracks on the record,” says Thomas Rhett. “It’s my big ‘what if’ song. I wrote it from the perspective of if I had never told my wife how I felt about her all those years ago. I probably would have been sitting at her wedding watching her marry someone else. Heartbreaking thought—and thankfully I did tell her how I felt—but it makes for a great song concept that so many people can relate to.”
Musical Event of the Year
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley feat. Brothers Osborne
“Dear Hate” – Maren Morris (Feat. Vince Gill)
“Drowns the Whiskey” – Jason Aldean (Feat. Miranda Lambert) “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” – David Lee Murphy (with Kenny Chesney) WINNER
“Meant to Be” – Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
Music Video of the Year (Awarded to Artist & Director)
“Babe” – Sugarland (Featuring Taylor Swift); Director: Anthony Mandler
“Cry Pretty” – Carrie Underwood; Director: Randee St. Nicholas
“Drunk Girl” – Chris Janson; Director: Jeff Venable “Marry Me” – Thomas Rhett; Director: TK McKamy WINNER
“Tequila” – Dan + Shay; Director: Patrick Tracy
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