ST. LOUIS — The No. 2 seeded Tennessee men’s basketball will face sixth-seeded Arkansas in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday at the Scottrade Center. The game tips around 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on ESPN and streamed online via WatchESPN.
The Volunteers (24-7) claimed a share of the SEC Regular-Season Championship after being picked to finish 13th by select media during the preseason. On Tuesday, UT swept the SEC’s postseason honors, as Rick Barnes won Coach of the Year, Grant Williams won Player of the Year and Lamonte Turner was Co-Sixth Man of the Year. Williams, who was also named First Team All-SEC, joined Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King as the only Vols to earn SEC POY distinction as underclassmen.
SEC Co-Player of the Week and Second-Team All-SEC honoree Admiral Schofield averaged 23.5 points and 5.0 rebounds last week while delivering from the field (17-34, .500) and the free-throw line (11-13, .846) in victories over Mississippi State and Georgia to clinch a share of the title. In Saturday’s game against UGA, Schofield led the Vols in scoring for the third game in a row with 23 points to help UT comeback from a double-digit deficit to defeat the Bulldogs.
Tennessee won its first matchup of the tournament, defeating seventh-seeded Mississippi State in a hard-fought 62-59 victory in the quarterfinals. Turner led the way with 15 points, eight rebounds and a career-high four steals. Williams posted his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. On the night, UT held a 50-33 edge on the glass, including 22 offensive rebounds.
Arkansas claimed the only matchup between the two teams this season, beating the Vols in a 95-93 overtime game in the SEC opener in Decemeber. The winner of our game will advance to the finals and will face the No. 4 seeded Kentucky or ninth-seeded Alabama on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
THE SERIES
• Overall: Arkansas leads, 20-19
• In Knoxville: UT leads, 11-4
• In Fayetteville: UA leads, 10-4
• Neutral Sites: UA leads, 6-4
• Current Streak: Arkansas has won six straight
• Last Meeting: UA won, 95-93, in OT in Fayetteville, 12/30/17
• Rick Barnes vs. Arkansas: 3-5
• Rick Barnes vs. Mike Anderson: Anderson leads, 7-2
RIGHT NOW
• Tennessee enters Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinals riding a league-best, five-game win streak during which the Vols are allowing only 59.2 points per game while boasting a +8.6 scoring margin.
• Tennessee pulled down a season-high 22 offensive rebounds and was +17 on the glass Friday vs. Mississippi State.
• The Vols are rated No. 10 in the NCAA’s RPI. Arkansas is No. 29.
• SEC Co-Player of the Week Admiral Schofield is averaging 20.2 points and 6.6 during UT’s five-game win streak.
• KenPom.com rates Tennessee’s strength-of-schedule eighth nationally.
A WIN WOULD…
• Extend Tennessee’s win streak to six games.
• Keep the Vols undefeated in rematch games this season. Tennessee is 6-0 in such games.
• Put Tennessee in the SEC Tournament title game for the first time since 2009.
• Make this Tennessee squad one of just four teams ever to reach the 25-win mark. This is the 109th season of Tennessee basketball.
THE LAST MEETING WITH ARKANSAS
• After a late surge by Arkansas, No. 19 Tennessee came up short in overtime, 95-93, at Bud Walton Arena on Dec. 30, 2017.
• With a 68-61 edge in the final four minutes of the second half, the Razorbacks (11-2, 1-0 SEC) stormed back into the game behind a 12-2 run to take their first lead of the contest. Down by one with 18 seconds remaining, Tennessee’s Jordan Bone drew a foul and tied the game at 73-73 to force overtime.
• Arkansas had all the momentum going into overtime and pulled away early on in the extra period with a 16-5 run. The Vols (9-3, 0-1 SEC) clawed back to make it a two-point game with eight seconds left behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Lamonté Turner, but it wasn’t enough. The teams combined to score 42 total points in the five-minute overtime period.
• The Volunteers had five players with double-digit scoring, paced by Bone’s season-high 21 points. He also had six boards and five assists in 38 minutes of action. James Daniel III had a big game off the bench, scoring 17 to go with four assists and a pair of rebounds and steals.
• Admiral Schofield finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Grant Williams and Turner chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
• Arkansas was paced by Daryl Macon, who finished with 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field. Jaylen Barford added 28.
• Facing a high-pressure Arkansas defense, Tennessee guards Jordan Bone and James Daniel III combined to commit only three turnovers in 73 minutes played.
TENNESSEE vs. ARKANSAS IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
• Tennessee is 3-3 all-time against Arkansas at the SEC Tournament.
• The most recent meeting was an 80-72 Arkansas victory at the 2015 tournament in Nashville. UT was the No. 10 seed, and the Razorbacks were the No. 2 seed.
• Saturday’s clash marks the third meeting since 2011 for Vols and Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament.
24 WINS AND COUNTING
• This is one of only six Tennessee teams to win at least 24 games in a single season (see chart below).
• Tennessee has logged its 26th all-time 20-win season and its first since 2013-14, when the Vols finished with 24 victories and advanced to their seventh Sweet Sixteen.
• Tennessee also recorded 23 regular-season victories for the first time since 2009-10 (23).
• In 31 seasons as a Division I head coach, Rick Barnes has now led his teams to 20 or more wins 21 times.
Lamonte Turner – Vols Guard / Credit: UT Athletics
ST. LOUIS — Tennessee came up with a hard-fought, 62-59 win over seventh-seeded Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament at the Scottrade Center on Friday night.
Led by SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year Lamonte Turner‘s 15 points off the bench, the Vols (24-7) punched their ticket to Saturday’s semifinals with the win. Turner also added eight rebounds and a career-high four steals.
Despite having a tough night from the field, SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams recorded his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. All-SEC wing Admiral Schofield was the only other Vol to score in double digits, finishing with 13 points and eight boards.
After another slow start in the second half by both teams, the Bulldogs (22-11) battled back to make it a 51-49 game with 6:43 remaining after a 9-2 run, highlighted by a pair of threes from Lamar Peters.
Mississippi State cut it to a one-point deficit, but Turner responded with a hard cut to the basket for a contested layup to make it a three-point game heading into the final media timeout in regulation.
The shot would spark a 6-0 run by Turner himself with three consecutive baskets to make it a 58-51 game. After Peters converted on two more three-point plays, the Bulldogs found themselves within one score with 42 seconds left in the game. MSU came up with a defensive stop, and Xavian Stapleton got a wide-open look from three but his shot didn’t fall.
After Tennessee point guard Jordan Bone got the rebound, was fouled, and hit one of two from the charity stripe to make it a three-point game, the Bulldogs had a chance to tie things at the buzzer but were unable to get a shot off.
Tennessee held a 50-33 advantage on the boards, including 22 offensive rebounds. The Vols converted those into 22 second-chance points.
After a back-and-forth start, the Vols used an 8-0 run to take a 15-10 lead over Mississippi State early in the first half. After MSU tied things up, Tennessee ended the half on a 15-8 run to enter halftime up, 31-24.
Neither team could find the hot hand in the period, as both squads shot 32 percent from the floor. UT was able to extend its lead behind four threes in the half compared to just one by the Bulldogs.
Schofield led the way for the Volunteers in the frame with eight points and five rebounds, while Turner chipped in an additional eight points, three rebounds and two steals.
UP NEXT: Tennessee advances to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and will face No. 3 seeded Florida or sixth-seeded Arkansas on Saturday 25 minutes after the matchup between Alabama and Kentucky (1 p.m. ET tip).
MOVING ON IN THE TOURNEY: With its fifth straight win, Tennessee has advanced to its first SEC Tournament semifinal since 2014, when the Vols made a run to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE BY WILLIAMS: SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. It marked the fifth of his career after posting a team-high four double-doubles last season. This was the 25th time this season Williams has eclipsed double-digit scoring and the third time he’s had at least 10 boards.
WINNING THE REMATCHES: UT’s win over the Bulldogs on Friday improved its record to 5-0 in rematch games this season. Tennessee has played six different SEC teams twice and is 11-1 in those games.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt announced the addition of transfer quarterback Keller Chryst on Friday. The signal-caller will transfer to the Vols for the 2018 season from Stanford, where he started 13 games over the last two seasons. He signed a financial aid agreement with UT earlier this week.
Chryst will be eligible to play this fall upon graduation from Stanford.
A native of Palo Alto, Calif., Chryst is a two-time Pac-12 Academic honorable mention selection. He completed 160 of 289 pass attempts for for 1,926 yards and 19 touchdowns with six interceptions in 23 games. Chryst added 164 rushing yards and three scores on 66 carries.
Chryst holds an 11-2 record as a starting quarterback, going 5-2 in 2017 and 6-0 in 2016. He passed for 962 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017 and 905 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016.
At Palo Alto High School, Chryst was a consensus Top 100 recruit, Under Armour All-American and the nation’s No. 2 pro-style quarterback prospect according to Rivals and 247Sports.
His father, Geep Chryst, is the Denver Broncos tight ends coach, while his uncle, Paul Chryst, is the head coach at Wisconsin.
ST. LOUIS — The No. 2-seeded Tennessee men’s basketball team begins play in the SEC Tournament on Friday at Scottrade Center, facing seventh-seeded Mississippi State at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised live on SEC Network and streamed online via WatchESPN.
The Volunteers (23-7, 13-5 SEC) claimed a share of the SEC Regular-Season Championship after being picked to finish 13th by select media during the preseason. On Tuesday, UT swept the SEC’s postseason honors, as Rick Barnes won Coach of the Year, Grant Williams won Player of the Year and Lamonte Turner was Co-Sixth Man of the Year. Williams, who was also named First Team All-SEC, joined Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King as the only Vols to earn SEC POY distinction as underclassmen.
SEC Co-Player of the Week and Second-Team All-SEC honoree Admiral Schofield averaged 23.5 points and 5.0 rebounds last week while delivering from the field (17-34, .500) and the free-throw line (11-13, .846) in victories over Mississippi State and Georgia to clinch a share of the title. In Saturday’s game against UGA, Schofield led the Vols in scoring for the third game in a row with 23 points to help UT comeback from a double-digit deficit to defeat the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State defeated LSU on Thursday in the second round of the tournament, 80-77. Lamar Peters led the way with 24 points and six assists. The winner of our game will advance to the semifinals and will face No. 3 seeded Florida or sixth-seeded Arkansas on Saturday.
THE MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES
• Overall: UT leads, 82-43
• In Knoxville: UT leads, 45-11
• In Starkville: UT leads, 30-28
• Neutral Sites: UT leads, 7-4
• Current Streak: Tennessee has won one
• Last Meeting: UT won, 76-54, in Starkville, 2/27/18
• Rick Barnes vs. Mississippi State: 6-1
• Rick Barnes vs. Ben Howland: Barnes leads, 6-2
A WIN WOULD…
• Extend Tennessee’s win streak to five games.
• Keep the Vols undefeated in rematch games this season. Tennessee is 5-0 in such games.
• Put Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2014.
• Stand as Tennessee’s 11th win away from home this season, bolstering an already-impressive line on its NCAA Tournament résumé.
RIGHT NOW
• Tennessee enters the SEC Tournament riding a league-best, four-game win streak during which the Vols are allowing only 59.2 points per game while boasting a +10.0 scoring margin.
• In Tennessee’s most recent game—a 66-61 home win over Georgia last Saturday—the Vols held the Bulldogs to just three points in the final 8:29 of regulation. And UGA was scoreless over the last 3:10.
• In their last two games, Tennessee has twice held opponents to 20 or fewer points in a half. Mississippi State managed just 20 points in the second half on Feb. 27, and Georgia was held to 19 second-half points in the regular-season finale March 3.
• Tennessee allowed 65 or fewer points in 12 of its 18 SEC games this season. The Vols won 11 of those games, with the lone loss coming at Missouri, 59-55.
• The Vols played a home-and-home series against five SEC teams this season: Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Georgia. Prior to the season, Rick Barnes stressed the importance of those games to his coaching staff and said the Vols needed to go 8-2 in those contests. Tennessee was better than that—it went 9-1.
• Picked to finish 13th in the SEC during the preseason, Tennessee enters the SEC Tournament as the SEC Champion and ranked 13th in the AP top 25 poll.
THE LAST MEETING WITH MISSISSIPPI STATE
• No. 16 Tennessee went to one of the toughest environments in the SEC and dominated Mississippi State, 76-54, in Humphrey Coliseum on Feb. 27, 2018.
• Coming off a career performance three days prior at Ole Miss, Admiral Schofield played lights out once again, finishing with 24 points and seven boards to lead the Vols. The win guaranteed Tennessee a top-two finish in the SEC this season and a double-bye in the SEC Tournament next week.
• Mississippi State pulled within four points early in the second half at 44-40, but UT responded with a 12-2 run to make it a 14-point game with 12:08 remaining. Tennessee extended its lead to 19 after a layup by Lamonté Turner made it a 64-45 game at the 8:40 mark. Turner finished with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
• In the second period, Tennessee rattled off 11 consecutive made shots to take the crowd out of the game and gain an insurmountable lead. The Vols shot an impressive 68 percent (15-of-22) from the floor in the period.
• The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 25-18 advantage with less than 10 minutes remaining in the opening period, but an 8-0 run evened things up for the Volunteers after a 10-foot jumper by Jordan Bone.
• With the shot clock under four seconds, James Daniel III was forced to take a 35-foot three to avoid a shot-clock violation, which he banked in to tie things up at 30-30. The clutch shot sparked a 13-4 run for UT over the final five minutes of the frame.
• Schofield had another strong start, dropping 11 first-half points to give Tennessee a 40-34 lead going into the break.
VOLS vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT
• Tennessee is 7-3 all-time against Mississippi State at the SEC Tournament.
• Since the SEC Tournament was renewed in 1979, these teams have met at the event five times, with the Bulldogs holding a 3-2 edge.
• The most recent meeting was a 69-53 Tennessee victory at the 2013 tournament in Nashville. UT was the No. 5 seed, and the Bulldogs were the No. 13 seed.
• The Vols and Bulldogs met in the championship game of the 2009 SEC Tournament in Tampa, with MSU prevailing, 64.61.
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Tennessee is 65-53 (.551) in 57 all-time previous SEC Tournament appearances.
• The Vols own the third-best SEC Tournament winning percentage among league schools, trailing only Kentucky (.839) and Alabama (.557).
• Since the tournament was renewed in 1979, the Vols are 30-38 (.441).
• Tennessee has won the SEC Tournament four times, tying Florida for third-most among league schools. The Vols won the event in 1936, 1941, 1943 and 1979.
• UT has reached the championship game 10 times (tied for third-most among league schools), most recently in 2009 in Tampa.
• Tennessee has been the No. 2 seed three times previously at the SEC Tournament. The Vols defeated Auburn and Kentucky to win the tournament as the No. 2 seed Birmingham in 1979. UT beat Vanderbilt before losing to Alabama as the No. 2 seed in 1982 in Lexington. And the Vols fell to Ole Miss in overtime as the No. 2 seed in New Orleans in 2012.
• This is the ninth time St. Louis has hosted the SEC Tournament and the first time the event has been contested west of the Mississippi River.
• Tennessee’s all-time record in the state of Missouri is 2-6. The only cities in which the Vols have previously appeared are St. Louis (1-1) and Columbia (1-5).
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT
• Wayne Chism scored 23, JaJuan Smith added 19 and Tyler Smith put in 13, but it was Chris Lofton’s 25-footer with 12.0 seconds remaining that lifted the Vols to an 89-87 win over South Carolina in the 2008 SEC Tournament in Atlanta on March 14, 2008.
• Carlus Groves went 9-for-10 from the floor, scoring 22 points, to lift Tennessee to an 87-70 upset win over No. 18 Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the 1991 SEC Tournament in Nashville.
• It took Tony White 45 minutes to put 30 on Florida, including five points in overtime, as the Vols beat the Gators, 80-74, in the first round of the 1984 SEC Tournament in Nashville.
• Tennessee topped Kentucky, the third time UT beat the Wildcats that year, in the championship game of the 1979 SEC Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. The Vols prevailed 75-69 in overtime on March 3, 1979.
BARNES IN LEAGUE TOURNEYS
• Rick Barnes is 33-29 (.532) in conference tournament games as a head coach.
• He led Providence to the Big East Tournament championship in 1994.
• So in the last 30 years, Barnes has logged more conference tournament wins and as many conference tournament championships as Tennessee since the SEC Tournament was renewed 39 years ago in 1979 (Tennessee has one league tournament title and 30 wins during that span).
HOWARD WOOD NAMED TENNESSEE’S 2018 SEC BASKETBALL LEGEND
• Former All-American Howard Wood has been selected as Tennessee’s Allstate SEC Basketball Legend and will be recognized by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey at midcourt during halftime of UT’s SEC Tournament opener Friday.
• Wood starred in the Tennessee frontcourt for head coach Don DeVoe from 1978-81. A powerful but undersized center—he was 6-7, 235 during his career as a Vol—he was a member of Tennessee’s 1979 SEC Tournament championship team and was a second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection as a senior in 1981.
• The East Hampton, New York, native ranks 35th on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,201 career points.
• He was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 1981 NBA Draft and enjoyed a long and successful professional playing career—with many outstanding seasons spent playing in Spain.
TENNESSEE WAS PICKED 13TH IN SEC
• SEC Champion Tennessee was predicted to finish 13th in the 2018 SEC race by an SEC and national media voting panel.
• The Volunteers also were picked 13th last season before posting an 8-10 SEC record to finish ninth.
• The Vols have outperformed their preseason SEC projection every season under coach Rick Barnes.
SEC CHAMPIONS
• Tennessee’s win over Georgia last Saturday gave the Volunteers their 10th SEC Championship in program history—their fourth in the last 40 years.
• From 1933-50 the SEC Champion was determined by a tournament, except for 1935. Since 1951, when the round-robin schedule was introduced, the title has been decided by a winning percentage on the conference schedule.
• Tennessee won SEC Championships via the league tournament in 1936, 1941, 1943 and 1979. The Big Orange won the league via intra-conference win percentage in 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2008 and now 2018.
• Only Kentucky (48) has more SEC regular-season titles than Tennessee (10).
BARNES CAPTURES FOURTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
• SEC Coach of the Year Rick Barnes has captured his fourth regular-season conference crown as a head coach.
• Barnes previously led Texas to Big 12 titles in 1999, 2006 (co-champs) and 2008 (co-champs).
• He also has one conference tournament title to his credit, having led Providence to the Big East Tournament championship in 1994.
TENNESSEE DOMINATES SEC COACHES’ POSTSEASON AWARDS
• In addition to landing two All-SEC performers, Tennessee swept Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year when the SEC coaches’ postseason awards were announced March 6.
• Sophomore Grant Williams earned SEC Player of the Year acclaim and first-team All-SEC inclusion. Nine different Vols have now combined to win 12 SEC Player of the Year awards. Williams joins Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King as the only Vols to win the award as underclassmen.
• Junior wing Admiral Schofield garnered second-team All-SEC status.
• Sophomore guard Lamonté Turner became Tennessee’s first ever recipient of the SEC Sixth Man of the Year award. He shares this year’s award with Missouri’s Jontay Porter.
• And Rick Barnes became the fifth UT head coach to be named the SEC Coach of the Year. Barnes, Ray Mears (twice), Don DeVoe (three times), Jerry Green and Bruce Pearl (twice) have combined to win the award nine times with the Vols.
23 WINS AND COUNTING
• This is one of only six Tennessee teams to win at least 23 games in a single season, and there’s plenty more basketball left to be played.
• Tennessee has logged its 26th all-time 20-win season and its first since 2013-14, when the Vols finished with 24 victories and advanced to their seventh Sweet Sixteen.
• Tennessee also recorded 23 regular-season victories for the first time since 2009-10 (23).
• In 31 seasons as a Division I head coach, Rick Barnes has now led his teams to 20 or more wins 20 times.
BARNES’ NCAA RÉSUMÉ IMPRESSIVE
• With this month’s impending NCAA Tournament appearance, Rick Barnes will have guided four different programs to a total of 23 berths in The Big Dance. He led Providence and Clemson to three berths each before guiding Texas to 16 tournament appearances.
• In Tennessee’s 108-year hardwood history, the Volunteers have made just 20 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Barnes will become just the 13th head coach ever to lead four different programs to the Division I NCAA Tournament (and one of seven who are active).
After scoring his first career No. 1 hit with “Five More Minutes” in February, Scotty McCreery has revealed his new single, “This Is It.”
The new tune, which Scotty co-penned with Frank Rogers and Aaron Eshuis about his fiancée Gabi Dugal, is featured on Scotty’s upcoming album, Seasons Change (March 16).
“It’s my engagement story,” says Scotty to NCD. “Like ‘Five more Minutes,’ this is another song that is personal to me. It’s our story. It’s like the blueprint for how we got engaged and the story of that day. I love it. I hope people enjoy it.
“The coolest part was that I wrote it before we got engaged. I wrote it two weeks before. I had it all planned out in my head—where we were gonna be, where we were gonna go, the time of day. Luckily, everything went to plan.”
Former Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst, a grad transfer who committed to Tennessee last week, has signed a financial aid agreement with the Vols.
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt confirmed the signing Monday.
Chryst, whose uncle is the head coach at Wisconsin, went 11-2 over two seasons as a starter at Stanford.
“He has experience,’’ Pruitt said, when asked what he liked about Chryst. “He comes from a football family. Has good maturity. He’s 11-2 as a starter.’’
Pruitt said he appreciated the attitude of the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Chryst when he visited UT.
“There’s probably other guys that would like to have come here,’’ Pruitt said, “but I would not tell them they would be the starting quarterback. That would be determined on the field.
“Keller was just excited about a chance to compete. That’s all he wanted.’’
Chryst will compete against redshirt sophomore Jarrett Guarantano, who made six starts last year, and true sophomore Will McBride, who made one start. Guarantano threw for 997 yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions. He completed 61.7 percent of his passes in nine games.
What does Pruitt like about Guarantano?
“I tell you what,’’ Pruitt said, “the kid is tough. He has arm talent. He has good athletic ability. I’ve seen him work hard in the offseason and try to do things the right way.
“He wants to be the best player he can possibly be … he wants to be coachable. … I see him in there watching a lot of tape.’’
What did Pruitt tell Chryst about Guarantano?
“The only thing I know about J-G is he’s got arm talent, he can run and is tough as nails.’’
As Alabama’s defensive coordinator last year, Pruitt recalled “we beat him up pretty good last year’’ and he kept competing.
How does Pruitt assess his quarterback position?
“You can’t win in this league without a quarterback,’’ Pruitt said. “And I’ve been as brutally honest as I can. I don’t know what we have at that position.’’
Pruitt didn’t say if he prefers a dual-threat quarterback to a drop-back passer.
“I think the big thing about quarterback is when the possession is over with, make sure you’re kicking the football, whether it’s for extra point or a punt,’’ Pruitt said. “I don’t think it matters about athletic ability or arm strength. I think it matters about how you can get the other 10 guys on the team to play at the highest level and to play as a team. I think that’s the most important thing with a quarterback.’’
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
Cole Swindell, who will headline a concert before the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 19 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, got a feel for the track as driver Ryan Blaney recently took him for a few high-speed laps.
“I’ve never been this nervous walking out onstage,” said Cole as he was strapping into the car. “I’m usually in control when I walk out onstage.”
From the look on Cole’s face, he enjoyed the ride.
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt stopped short of saying suspended wide receiver Jauan Jennings has been reinstated, but all signs point in a positive direction.
“Right now he’s doing everything we’ve asked him to do – being a good teammate,’’ Pruitt said Monday. “We’re giving him an opportunity to do what he needs to do to have success in the future.’’
Pruitt said Jennings is “considered part of the team’’ and is doing “team stuff.’’
Asked if Jennings has been reinstated, Pruitt said: “He has a list of things he’s got to do and he knows what they are. He’s in the process of doing them. It’s kind of hard (to do them) if you’re not a part of the team.’’
Pruitt said Jennings would practice this spring if healthy but will miss spring due to having his knee scoped recently.
Jennings is “day to day’’ and is getting treatment for the knee, Pruitt said.
Jennings, who had 40 catches last year and a game-winner against Georgia, suffered a broken wrist against Georgia Tech in the 2017 season opener and had surgery.
He then basically went AWOL. He didn’t show up for rehab or practice or meetings or most games. He returned to practice with about two weeks left in the season, but then walked out of practice – in essence quitting the team – on a Wednesday before the season finale when he was told he couldn’t play quarterback.
He then went on a profanity-laced tirade on Instagram in which he blasted Tennessee’s coaches, calling them fake, snakes and liars. He dropped the F-bomb multiple times and used the N-word.
Interim coach Brady Hoke, in consultation with then-athletic director John Currie, dismissed Jennings from the team.
A few months ago, Jennings met with athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who said in an interview on SportsTalk WNML in Jan. 12 that Jennings might be able to return if he met certain criteria but the final decision was up to Pruitt.
The Academy of Country Music announced that Nash Nights Live co-host Elaina Smith will add her vocal talents to the ACM Awards on April 15.
Elaina will join her Nash Nights Live co-host Shawn Parr as the live voiceover team for the televised awards show.
“We’ve been keeping this secret for what seems like forever now—I’m so excited it’s finally out there,” says Elaina to NCD. “I have been watching the ACM Awards my entire life and it’s a dream come true to be joining the team. Thank you to everyone at Dick Clark Productions for making this a reality. I’m so excited to be doing this with Shawn, and we’ll be bringing all of our behind-the-scenes experiences to the Nash Nights Live audience.”
Check out Elaina’s reaction to the announcement below.
As Elaina makes her debut, 2018 will mark Shawn’s 24th year as an announcer for the ACM Awards.
Hosted by Reba McEntire, the ACM Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and feature performances by Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, and more.
