Check out the Christmas greetings that some of your favorite country stars shared on social media today (Dec. 25), including Dolly Parton, Luke Bryan, Chris Young, Scotty McCreery, Kelsea Ballerini and more.
On Dec. 23, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and wife Hayley welcomed a baby girl, Olivia Rose.
Olivia Rose, who weighed 7 lbs., 13 oz,, is the couple’s first child.
“We love this little girl more than words can describe and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet,” said Tyler in an Instagram post. “Our life has been forever been changed for the better.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Friday’s signing announcement by Under Armour All-American Alontae Taylor gave head coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee football program 13 members in their 2018 Class. The Early Signing Period began on Wednesday and wraps up at the end of the day on Friday.
UT will add several more Vols during the traditional National Signing Day on Feb. 7.
Taylor starred at Coffee County Central High School and was named Offensive MVP of the 2017 Toyota East-West Tennessee All-Star Classic after totaling 180 yards of total offense and tossing the game-winning touchdown pass.
Including Taylor, the Vols have signed five of the state’s Top 10 football recruits, according to Rivals, with blue chip defensive end Greg Emerson (No. 3), Cordova High School teammates Jerome Carvin (No. 8) and Jeremy Banks (No. 9), and 2017 Tennessee Titans District II-A Mr. Football Brant Lawless (No. 10). Taylor (No. 4) rushed for 6,000 yards and scored 75 touchdowns during his prep career.
Tennessee announced the signing of City College of San Francisco defensive end Jordan Allen on Thursday. Allen is ESPN’s No. 9-rated overall junior college prospect in the country. He is expected to play linebacker for the Vols.
Before signing Allen and Taylor on Thursday and Friday, respectively, Tennessee inked 11 newcomers on Wednesday.
“We are very excited to welcome this group of outstanding young men who signed with us today,” Pruitt said on Wednesday night. “They are terrific football players, who also display exceptional character off the field. We appreciate the commitment they have made to the University of Tennessee. They will be the foundation for our first signing class here. We said we were going to build a fence around the state and this is a good start. We also know that Tennessee is a national brand, and it’s exciting that some of these players from across the country will be wearing the ‘T’ on their helmets. We hope to have a few more guys sign these next two days, too.
“We know we still have a lot of work to do on the recruiting trail, as we will sign several more players in February, but today is a great way to begin. We will get back to work when I return in January. I want to thank Vol Nation for all of the support these first two weeks on the job. I am honored and humbled to be your head coach, and I’m looking forward to devoting all of my time to our football team following the College Football Playoff.”
Overall, the Big Orange early signing class features eight members from the state of Tennessee, three Californians, one player from Florida and one South Carolina native.
Seven of the newest Vols have been selected for postseason high school all-star games, including U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant Emerson, a defensive end, and Under Armour All-America Game selections Paxton Brooks, the nation’s No. 2 punter, and Taylor.
The class also features a pair of Knoxville area stars in Gibbs offensive lineman Ollie Lane and Farragut tight end Jacob Warren.
California quarterback JT Shrout rocketed up recruiting boards this season and is ranked as the No. 14 pro-style quarterback in the nation, according to Rivals, while Dominick Wood-Anderson is the No. 1-rated junior college tight end prospect in the country.
Additionally, the Vols signed one of the Nashville area’s top recruits in offensive lineman Tanner Antonutti and national prep powerhouse IMG Academy defensive lineman Kingston Harris.
After being named head coach on Dec. 7, Pruitt had just 10 days to put together a signing class before the dead period began on Dec. 18, limiting contact with recruits. Pruitt, who was named 247Sports Recruiter of the Year in 2012, and members of his coaching staff worked tirelessly to secure the Early Signing Period class.
-UT Athletics
UT’s 2018 ESP Signing Class / Credit: UT Athletics
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The 21st-ranked Tennessee Volunteers hit the road again this weekend to face off against another ACC foe in Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The game will tip at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2 and streamed online via WatchESPN.
Tennessee (8-2) enters the matchup with a pair of victories over teams from the ACC (NC State, 67-58, and Georgia Tech, 77-70) already this season. UT fell to No. 7 North Carolina in a hard-fought battle in Thompson-Boling Arena last Sunday, marking the Vols’ first home loss of the year. On Wednesday, Tennessee bounced back to hold off a Furman team riding a five-game winning streak, 66-61.
Wake Forest (7-4) returns 11 of 16 players from last year’s roster that made the NCAA Tournament, including two starters in Bryant Crawford and Keyshawn Woods. The Demon Deacons enter the contest on a six-game winning streak and are playing their best ball of the season. Over the streak, WF is averaging 86.0 ppg while holding its opponents to 69.6 ppg.
After the game, the Vols begin conference play with a trip to Arkansas the following weekend before hosting Auburn and Kentucky in back-to-back home games at Thompson-Boling Arena.
THE SERIES
• Overall: UT leads, 8-2
• In Knoxville: UT leads, 6-0
• In Winston-Salem: Tied, 1-1
• Neutral Sites: Tied, 1-1
• Current Streak: UT has won three straight
• Last Meeting: UT won, 82-63, in the Bahamas, 11/30/13
• Rick Barnes vs. Wake Forest: 4-9
• Rick Barnes vs. Danny Manning: No meetings
RIGHT NOW
• Wake Forest is UT’s fourth ACC opponent in the last 30 days. This is the seventh ACC game the Vols have played in two-plus seasons under Rick Barnes.
• The Vols are rated No. 12 in the NCAA and ESPN InsideRPI, with the nation’s 10th-rated SOS.
• Tennessee’s two losses this season have come at the hands of the last two national champions.
A WIN WOULD…
• Improve UT’s all-time record against current members of the ACC to 109-99
• Ensure that the Vols enter SEC play with two or fewer losses for the first time since 2009-10
• Give the Vols a 2-0 record in true road games this season (both at ACC venues)
• Be UT’s fourth victory away from home over a Power Five opponent (fifth if you count the exhibition win at Clemson)
ABOUT WAKE FOREST
• Head coach Danny Manning is in his third season with the Demon Deacons.
• Last season, All-American and first team All-ACC performer John Collins (19.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg) led the Deacs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season. Collins chose to enter the NBA Draft after the season and was selected 19th overall by the Atlanta Hawks.
• Despite the loss of its star player, Wake Forest returns 11 of 16 players from last year’s roster, including two starters. Junior guard Bryant Crawford (16.2 ppg, 5.5 apg, 3.8 rpg) started all 33 games for the Deacs and led the team in assists and steals last year. Redshirt junior guard Keyshawn Woods (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.5 apg) is the other returning starter.
• Crawford has picked up where he finished last season, averaging 16.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, 2.7 rpg and 2.0 spg. He excels at drawing fouls and getting to the charity stripe, where he’s converting on 92 percent (58-of-63) of his attempts.
• Junior center Doral Moore, who had only one start in his career entering the season, has started every game for Wake and is reaching his potential as a top-100 prospect out of high school. So far, he’s posting 11.1 ppg on an impressive 85 percent (52-of-61) shooting from the floor. He is the team-leader in rebounds (7.9) and blocks (2.0) per game.
• Wake Forest enters the contest riding a six-game winning streak and is playing its best ball of the season. Over the streak, WF is averaging 86.0 ppg while holding its opponents to 69.6 ppg.
LAST MEETING WITH WAKE FOREST
• Tennessee throttled Wake Forest, 82-63, on Nov. 30, 2013, in the fifth-place game at the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
• Playing their third game in three days, the Vols were led by eventual NBA Draft pick Jarnell Stokes, who totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. It was his third double-double of the tournament.
• Freshman Darius Thompson had the best game of what would end up being a brief, one-year career (he transferred to Virginia following the season), making 9-of-9 shots at the free-throw line en route to a season-high 16 points. He also had three assists.
• Tennessee led by as many as 28 points in the second half.
• Tennessee led 43-32 at halftime. UT shot 53.2 percent in the game and outscored the Demon Deacons 40-26 in the paint.
• The Vols received 29 points off the bench.
• Wake Forest was led by Codi Miller-McIntyre and Travis McKie, who scored 17 and 15, respectively.
LITTLE RICKY FROM HICKORY
• A native of Hickory, North Carolina, Rick Barnes has lined Tennessee’s schedule with several opponents located in his home state over the last two-plus seasons.
• Saturday’s Wake Forest clash is UT’s seventh game against a North Carolina-based school during the Barnes era. The Vols are 4-2 vs. teams from his native state.
FIRST-HALF DEFENSE STIFLING
• Through its first 10 games, UT has held opponents to an average 25.6 points during the first half.
• Tennessee’s average lead at halftime this season is 14.1 points, and the Big Orange have yet to trail at the break all season (one tie).
J-BIRD REACHES 2K MILESTONE
• Graduate transfer James Daniel III is Division I’s active career scoring leader, and on Dec. 20 vs. Furman (his 100th career game played), he eclipsed the 2,000 career point milestone. He now has 2,006 total collegiate points.
• 90 of those games, and 1,933 of those points, were scored during Daniel’s standout career at Howard University.
Christmas may be the time for giving, but it’s also the time to give yourself a break from the hustle and bustle of holiday insanity. So pour yourself a stiff glass of eggnog, plop down on the couch for a few hours and enjoy one of your favorite festive flicks—or check out one of these recommendations from some of our favorite country stars.
BRETT ELDREDGE National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s set in Chicago, and I’m from Illinois, and I have an uncle exactly like Clark W. Griswold. He’s that guy. You know, up on the ladder stapling himself to the house with the lights.
JERROD NIEMANN Bad Santa—the director’s cut. Check it out sometime. You won’t believe it.
CARRIE UNDERWOOD National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is definitely a standard around the holidays. It’s very quotable and fun.
DAN SMYERS of Dan + Shay It’s not necessarily a Christmas movie, but it’s got a Christmas theme: Home Alone. I don’t know. I’ve watched that movie so much. I can’t watch it enough. I grew up on that. Every Christmas I’ll put that on.
SHAY MOONEY of Dan + Shay There was always one movie that was on when I was growing up and it was like a claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and I always used to watch that every year. I’ll probably be watching that again.
HILLARY SCOTT of Lady Antebellum National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I can pretty much quote it line-for-line. It’s amazing.
FRANKIE BALLARD It’s not thought of as a Christmas movie, but it is: Grumpy Old Men. They go through Thanksgiving and Christmas in the movie, so it’s seasonally accurate. But it’s always one that just feels like Christmas to me.
DUSTIN LYNCH
My favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My favorite scene from that movie is when Eddie and Clark are buying light bulbs. I didn’t notice this the first 70 or so times I watched it, but something is going on in Eddie’s pants. It’s absolutely hilarious. It’s one of those things you don’t catch at first.
DARIUS RUCKER Miracle on 34th Street is that movie that I’ll watch 10 times through the holidays and I’ll cry at the end every time, but for me, Elf. It’s a great idea, so well-written.
MADDIE MARLOW of Maddie & Tae
Maddie Marlow: Elf! What’s your favorite color? I could watch that in the summer and still love it.
TAE DYE of Maddie & Tae Elf, totally.
KIP MOORE Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase, for sure.
CASSADEE POPE
I usually watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It brings me back to my childhood.
CRAIG CAMPBELL
My wife has always loved White Christmas with Bing Crosby. We watch that every year with the kids.
BILLY CURRINGTON Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I never watch a lot of TV, to be really honest with you. But that’s like my childhood memory. So I’d probably sit down and watch it again.
EASTON CORBIN A Christmas Story is hard to beat. You’ll shoot your eye out!
STANFORD, Calif. — Senior Jaime Nared posted a 28-point effort to lead the No. 7 Lady Vols to an 83-71 victory on the road against No. 18 Stanford (6-6). The win improved Tennessee to 12-0 on the season and broke a five-game Tennessee losing streak at Maples Pavilion dating back to Dec. 4, 2005. That season also marked the last time UT opened a season with 12 straight wins.
Senior Mercedes Russell contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night, while freshman Evina Westbrook posted a career high of 17 points. In addition to a season-high 28 points, Nared also posted a career-best seven steals.
Brittany McPhee was Stanford’s leading scorer and the only Cardinal in double digits, notching 27 points on the night.
The Lady Vols got off to a cold start, going 0-of-5 from the field before Rennia Davis ended the drought at the 6:20 mark. Tennessee claimed its first lead of the game 20 seconds later, going up 6-4 off an Evina Westbrook layup. Westbrook went on to shoot 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, finishing the quarter with 10 points to help propel Tennessee to a 23-14 lead by the end of the period.
McPhee added eight points for Stanford in the opening minutes of the second quarter, cutting Tennessee’s lead to four with 5:09 to go in the half. Nared answered, sinking a 12-foot jumper before dishing out an assist to Russell on the following play to put the lead back at eight. Tennessee closed out the quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 46-30 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Vols struggled with fouls in the third quarter with Russell, Davis and Westbrook all picking up their third one before the four-minute mark. Nared contributed seven points in the quarter, and Tennessee took a 62-47 lead into the final period.
Stanford opened the fourth quarter with an 8-4 run to trim the lead to eleven with 6:30 to go in the game. Davis ended a nearly four-minute field goal drought for Tennessee, knocking down a jumper to make the score 68-55 with 6:11 to go. The Cardinal again mounted a run, going on a 7-0 spree to cut the lead to 68-62 with just over three minutes to play. Tennessee answered, hitting 15-of-16 free throws in the final 2:15 to win 83-71.
NEXT UP: Tennessee will begin their SEC schedule on the road against Kentucky, tipping off at noon ET on Sunday, Dec. 31. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
3-star JUCO LB Jordan Allen (6’5, 230) from the City College of San Francisco via Fairfield, CA has signed today with the U. of Tennessee. He’s the 12th in ESP.
Jordan Allen
LB – 6’5, 230
City College of San Francisco via Fairfield, CA
Committed: 12-20-17
Stars (Rivals/247Sports/ESPN): 3/3/4
ESPN Scouting Report “Good size and displays good first-step. Active motor with physical nature. Can shoot hands and keep blockers off frame and hold ground one-on-one. Displays good functional strength. Can quickly squeeze. Allen can be a physical and active defender with tools to be well-rounded. Can continue to refine technique, but prospect with tools to come in and compete for playing time and be productive contributor.”
Profile Notes From UT ESPN: 4-star Natl JUCO Rank: No. 9
Position Rank: No. 2 DE
247 Sports: 3-star
Natl JUCO Rank: No. 20
Position Rank: No. 2 DE
State Rank: No. 3 in CA
Rivals: 3-star
Composite Ranking: 3-star
Natl JUCO Rank: No. 25
Position Rank: No. 2 DE
State Rank: No. 4 in CA
As Garth Brooks wraps up the North American leg of his World Tour in Nashville on Dec. 22 and 23, we thought it would be the perfect time for a fill-in-the-blank game of Garthonian proportions.
Garth celebrated his 20th No. 1 single earlier this month as “Ask Me How I Know” ascended to the top of both the Mediabase and Billboard Country Airplay charts. In honor of the accomplishment, we tapped Amazon Music Unlimited to find out how all of Garth’s 20 No. 1 hits ranked on Amazon based on streams in 2017.
Instead of telling you, we thought it would be fun for you to fill in the blank. We’ll give you the first letter of each word (the answers are below the photo).
20. “She’s Every Woman”
19. “If Tomorrow Never Comes”
18. “Longneck Bottle”
17. “What She’s Doing Now”
16. “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association”
15. “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House”
14. “Two Piña Coladas”
13. “Unanswered Prayers”
12. “More Than a Memory”
11. “The River”
10. “The Beaches of Cheyenne”
9. “To Make You Feel My Love”
8. “The Dance”
7. “That Summer”
6. “Shameless”
5. “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)”
4. “The Thunder Rolls”
3. “The Dance”
2. “Friends in Low Places”
1. “Ask Me How I Know”
performing together on Dec. 31 on Dick Clark’s New Years Rocking Eve With Ryan Seacrest
playing Europe’s C2C Festival in March
putting together a tour in 2018
Quote Worthy:
“Normally, it takes 100 songs to write three good ones, but it’s different if you’re working with Jennifer. It takes one song to write one good one. That’s cool. You can’t ever underestimate the power of that.” — Kristian Bush
After being arrested on Dec. 20 and charged with DUI and possession of marijuana oil, Michael Ray released a statement today (Dec. 21).
“I want to apologize to my fans, family, and my hometown community for placing myself in this situation,” said Michael. “I am so very sorry for the disappointment these events have caused everyone. I know it will take time, however, I will do everything I can to rebuild your trust.”
According to the police report, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler that Michael was driving bumped the car in front of him in the McDonald’s drive-thru around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 20 in Eustis, Fla.
The “Kiss You in the Morning” singer failed several sobriety tests and refused a breathalyzer test. Cops also found marijuana oil in Michael’s pocket.
“While speaking to Michael I noticed he had blood shot eyes, slurred speech, he stumbled while walking and smelled of alcohol . . . he said he was coming from a bar in Tavares,” the arresting officer said in the report, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
TMZ has video footage of the arrest, which you can watch below.
