Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes visited with our Jimmy Hyams, 1-on-1, at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin.
Hear what Barnes said about why the league is better, the impact of the SEC/BIG 12 Challenge, replay in basketball, how recruiting has changed in college basketball, his two newcomers Chris Darrington and James Daniel and more.
Listen below.
June 1
By Jimmy Hyams
SANDESTIN, FLA. – Eight Lady Vols national championship banners hang from the rafters at Thompson-Boling Arena.
So do 22 Final Four banners (18 NCAA, 4 AIAW).
This is a proud program with a rich tradition, a program that was the face of women’s basketball for about 30 years. But no longer.
That mantle belongs to UConn.
And in last season’s national championship game, two SEC battled for the title, but neither was Tennessee.
Stunningly, it’s been eight years since the Lady Vols made it to the Final Four – by far the longest drought in school history. The previous skid was three years.
Coach Holly Warlick was asked how long it’s been since UT made the Final Four.
“It’s been a while,’’ she said at the SEC Spring Meetings.
Do you know the years?
“It’s been a while,’’ she repeated.
Surely, Warlick knows the number of years. She might even know the number of days.
Does it gnaw at her?
“It gnaws at me when we lose a game,’’ said Warlick, entering her fifth year as the Lady Vols coach. “I don’t want to lose any game. I think we should win every game when we step foot on the court. And we should be competitive in every game we play.
“If you ask what drives me, I want to put a team out there that is competitive every time they touch the floor. Why wouldn’t you be? Why wouldn’t you be competitive and work hard in practice? Why wouldn’t you do that on a basketball court?
“I am driven to win. I want to win. I think I’m going to win in everything I do. When you don’t win and you lose, it’s not very fun.’’
By that definition, the past four years haven’t always been fun for Warlick, because she has had seasons with double-digit loses, SEC Tournament losses, Elite Eight losses.
Make no mistake, anything short of a Final Four doesn’t sit well with Warlick.
“Truthfully, yes,’’ she said, when asked if the Final Four is the program barometer. “That’s just in my blood. … Yeah, our goal is to win a national championship and we will continue to strive for that. And I think that’s what these kids come to Tennessee for, to compete at the highest level. And I think that’s what you’ve got to do in order to hold up a trophy, you’ve got to compete at the highest level.’’
Is the Lady Vols brand as strong as ever?
Warlick says yes.
“It is (synonymous) with success, with tradition,’’ Warlick said. “We’re still succeeding in recruiting. We’re still competing.
“One thing great about the Tennessee brand, we don’t quit. We’re going to keep grinding. We’re going to keep representing the University of Tennessee and the Lady Vols brand as best we know how.’’
With the return of Diamond DeShields, Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared and the signing of the nation’s top-ranked class, Warlick said, on paper, she has her most talented team.
“I’m real excited about the four freshmen coming in, bringing their energy,’’ Warlick said.
Warlick thinks the newcomers should be ready to contribute right away considering their experience on the national level with AAU teams, playing in all-star games, and playing for state championships.
The newcomers will also give UT the depth it has lacked in recent years. In fact, Warlick is confident the Lady Vols can go two-deep at every position.
“I’m excited that we can do things I love to do,’’ she said. “We can press a little bit more. We can run a little bit more. We can get after it on the defensive end. I hope you’re going to see a team be uptempo and control the tempo, make it fast, spread the ball, spread the floor. I plan on playing a lot of people.’’
Another thing Warlick likes is the versatility of so many players who can play multiple positions.
“If you can shoot the 3 and penetrate, it’s just hard to guard (you),’’ Warlick said. “I look at players who are difficult for us to defend and those are the type players that can do multiple things. They can post up, catch and shoot or drive and pull up.
“Those type of players are tough to guard. I want our players to be versatile also because there are not too many people that just get locked in on one position. … I think the more versatile a player can be the better.’’
Perhaps that versatility and depth and freshmen energy can help raise another banner at Thompson-Boling Arena and end the eight-year Final Four drought.
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
If you like shooting tennis ball guns, driving amphibious miniature tanks and making explosives with agricultural fertilizer, you might want to check out Tyler Farr’s new show, A Little Too Far, a new reality series on the free streaming service go90.
But how “real” is this reality series? “They filmed on the road, so you’ll be able to see a little behind-the-scenes,” Tyler shared with Nash Country Daily during a recent visit to the studio. “You’ll see me tired. The camera is there when I’m waking up and just getting home. You can tell I’m exhausted sometimes. I just look like complete crap. It’s the whole package. You’re definitely going to learn about me. If they don’t know my sense of humor and think I’m just a jerk, hopefully this show will show them I’m not. I’m just a jokester.”
Watch the series trailer video below. Look for complete episodes on the go90 website on June 2.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl talked to the media at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin in a group setting.
He discussed some topics being discussed, what he’s more focused on this year, comparisons to his Tennessee teams, what he’s changed in recruiting, how good the league is and a classic response to someone who mentioned Missouri as a bad team.
Jimmy Hyams asked numerous good questions in this session. Listen below.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Sept. 16 football game against the Florida Gators will feature a 3:30 p.m. ET broadcast on CBS.
The Vols were featured on the SEC on CBS Game of the Week five times in 2016.
Tennessee enjoyed a thrilling 38-28 comeback win over the Gators in Neyland Stadium in 2016. That game was also on CBS. Florida holds 26-20 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to 1916.
The CBS college football schedule will conclude with the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 2, the Army-Navy Game on Saturday, Dec. 9, and the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29.
The schedule was announced on Tuesday as the SEC spring meetings are underway in Destin, Florida, and it is one of several big announcements CBS is expecting this week from the conference.
Tennessee opens the 2017 schedule on Sept. 4 when the Vols take on Georgia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. That game will have an 8 p.m. ET start on ESPN.
Times and television channels for the remainder of UT’s 2017 football games will be announced at a later date.
-UT Athletics
We thought it would be interesting to crunch a few numbers to see which country stars have the biggest reach on social media.
Taking into account an artist’s total number of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram followers, we compiled a list of the Top 20 country stars with the biggest social media reach. While total Twitter, Facebook and Instagram followers aren’t the be-all and end-all of social media reach, it’s a handy indicator.
It’s also interesting to see the platforms where individual artists excel. For instance, Blake Shelton has—by far—the most Twitter followers, while Carrie Underwood excels on Facebook and Instagram.
Take a look at the results below. [Editor’s note: we tried to be thorough in our search, but it’s possible we unintentionally omitted an artist who should be in the Top 20]
| # | Name | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Blake Shelton | 19,346,420 | 8,637,363 | 1,680,439 | 29,664,222 |
| 2. | Carrie Underwood | 6,916,321 | 10,488,928 | 5,924,876 | 23,330,125 |
| 3. | Luke Bryan | 8,907,977 | 8,099,653 | 3,678,905 | 20,686,535 |
| 4. | Miranda Lambert | 6,514,923 | 7,843,590 | 3,165,946 | 17,524,459 |
| 5. | Jason Aldean | 3,309,361 | 8,310,224 | 1,859,973 | 13,479,558 |
| 6. | Lady Antebellum | 2,487,092 | 9,628,610 | 1,172,134 | 13,287,836 |
| 7. | Tim McGraw | 2,797,745 | 7,780,719 | 1,649,661 | 12,228,125 |
| 8. | Brad Paisley | 4,177,288 | 6,758,774 | 843,497 | 11,779,559 |
| 9. | Keith Urban | 3,395,117 | 5,675,834 | 1,337,612 | 10,408,563 |
| 10. | Kenny Chesney | 2,508,131 | 5,956,388 | 774,317 | 9,238,836 |
| 11. | Dolly Parton | 4,593,602 | 3,751,172 | 712,308 | 9,057,082 |
| 12. | Reba McEntire | 1,911,242 | 6,113,250 | 992,285 | 9,016,777 |
| 13. | Zac Brown Band | 1,673,980 | 5,867,112 | 462,385 | 8,003,477 |
| 14. | Rascal Flatts | 1,757,660 | 5,876,720 | 13,673 | 7,648,053 |
| 15. | George Strait | 285,443 | 7,013,049 | 67,873 | 7,366,365 |
| 16. | Florida Georgia Line | 1,939,455 | 3,810,496 | 1,485,385 | 7,235,336 |
| 17. | Dierks Bentley | 2,384,492 | 2,964,282 | 1,342,709 | 6,691,483 |
| 18. | Toby Keith | 1,048,957 | 4,812,180 | 225,346 | 6,086,483 |
| 19. | Eric Church | 2,007,767 | 3,377,611 | 578,573 | 5,963,951 |
| 20. | Shania Twain | 845,253 | 4,526,793 | 531,235 | 5,903,281 |
Brad Paisley by Jim Shea/Schmidt Relations; Luke Bryan courtesy UMG; Blake Shelton by Brian Bowen/NBC The Voice; Jason Aldean by James Minchin/The Greenroom PR; Tim McGraw by Danny Clinch/Big Machine Records; Carrie Underwood courtesy Schmidt Relations; Miranda Lambert by Marc Nader/True PR
By Jimmy Hyams
SANDESTIN, FLA. – The debate has raged for a good 15 years.
The SEC will adopt a policy that it feels is right, regardless of whether other conferences or the NCAA follows suit.
SEC coaches, mainly in football, cry foul, saying it leaves them at a competitive disadvantage.
For example, said Alabama coach Nick Saban: “I don’t think we should penalize ourselves as a league and allow people to transfer to other places and they can’t transfer into our league.’’
Yet, since 2003, the SEC has won nine national championships in football, lost in the title game two other times and made the College Football Playoff semifinals another time.
That doesn’t appear to be a competitive disadvantage, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey would point out.
Sankey said since he’s been in the league as commissioner and associate commissioner (since 2002) there has been a divide between the SEC adopting a firm stance and coaches not being on board.
“I don’t pick winners or losers,’’ Sankey said when asked who wins the we-have-a-different-policy arguments. “I pick the right decision and I think we’ve made the right decisions based on our history or the circumstances.’’
The SEC has historically had more stringent rules than the NCAA requires. It has tougher academic requirements for junior college transfers. It has penalty for taking a graduate transfer who doesn’t meet academic requirements. It has denied transfers who had past discipline issues. It restricted distance from campus for football satellite camps. It also fines teams for allowing fans to storm the court or field.
“The great news is, you look at the competitive history of this league and it doesn’t seem that those policies inhibited success in a significant ways,’’ Sankey said. “I can probably point to some other issues like coaching transitions or the change in maybe some of these transfer patterns.’’
Sankey makes a fair point. This year, the SEC has won four national titles and has a chance to win four more – baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and field. All 13 softball teams made the NCAA Tournament. The women’s basketball national title game featured two SEC teams.
Sankey pointed to a policy that affected men’s basketball, which in the mid-2000s did not fare well in APR scores.
“We were not in good shape,’’ Sankey said. “Compare that to today.
“I would represent some of the policies decisions we’ve made, although they may be different from other conferences, have helped put us in a very healthy position from an academic performance of our student athletes.
“That doesn’t mean everybody appreciates those. But I’ve been open to say we can make our own decisions for our own reasons.’’
Even if some SEC coaches, or even athletic directors, object.
“Why do we have different policies?’’ Sankey said. “That’s a conversation I’ve been having for almost 15 years at these meetings. I think we’ve made the right decisions and I think both the competitive outcomes and the academic outcomes over the last 10 years demonstrate that to be correct.’’
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
By Jimmy Hyams
SANDESTIN, FLA. – Auburn to the East? Missouri to the West? SEC realignment?
Those appear to be hot topics in the media, but not among athletic administrators at the annual SEC Spring Meetings.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey joked with the media Tuesday night that the only time he hears those issues mentioned is when he talks to reporters.
“I only address it in these meetings,’’ Sankey said of the Auburn to the East hypothesis.
In other words, it ain’t happening – at least not in the foreseeable future.
Sankey said an SEC study was done in 2013-14 about all football options and scheduling.
“And we landed where we are currently: eight conference games with the expectation of a ninth game played against a colleague conference institution with a divisional alignment that’s in place. And it’s worked well,’’ Sankey said.
What about eliminating divisions and having the two teams with the best SEC records play for the championship?
Sankey said that over the past 25 years since the league first expanded, division play in football “has worked. Are we comfortable? We’d said, absolutely.’’
Sankey said some years the SEC has pitted the two best teams. Other years it hasn’t.
“That’s a reality the membership has accepted,’’ Sankey said.
Sankey said doing away with divisions or realigning divisions are not agenda items at these meetings.
On other topics, Sankey said:
*Several proposals are in place for graduate transfers, including a penalty of one year (not the current three) for a school that signs a graduate player that doesn’t meet academic requirements.
*Alcohol sales at non-premium areas of football and basketball games is not on the agenda, but Sankey expects some discussion on the issue.
*The SEC is looking at collaborate replay for basketball.
*The NCAA has proposed a 14-week football model annually so as to grant two open dates a year.
*Basketball season might start earlier to provide a longer holiday break for players.
*South Carolina coach Frank Martin, who took the Gamecocks to the Final Four, got a standing ovation from his colleagues when he walked into the basketball meeting room.
Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all
Much like 2014’s Ice Bucket Challenge sought to promote awareness of ALS via social media, the USO’s #Flex4Forces campaign calls on Americans to show their strength by striking a biceps flex in support of our nation’s military and sharing it on social media.
Step 1: Show Your Strength
Step 2: Share on Social
Country stars Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks and Phil Vassar have gotten into the spirit of the campaign. Check out the guys flexing their guns.
I was nominated by @RobertIrvine to #Flex4Forces with @the_USO… I nominate @Favre4Official and @SollyThomas90 pic.twitter.com/zlGK8QfV5s
— Tim McGraw (@TheTimMcGraw) May 28, 2017
Looking good @Favre4Official but @AplusK beats us both! I nominate @serenawilliams she’s gonna show all of us boys up! love, g #Flex4Forces pic.twitter.com/ZMVJOBgTmj
— Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) May 30, 2017
15% of @philvassar new album supports our servicemen and women of @the_USO ! Show your strength and #Flex4Forces https://t.co/DFphpsg7s9 pic.twitter.com/YVj4dW7ENi
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 26, 2017
photo via Garth Brooks Twitter
North Carolina native Ray Scott is known for mixing his rich baritone with a wry-witted lyric to create good-timin’ tunes like “Drinkin’ Beer” and “Ain’t Always Thirsty.”
On June 9, the good times roll on as Ray releases his new album, Guitar For Sale, which includes the anecdotally edgy “Put Down That Gun,” a song Nash Country Daily is premiering below.
“I like the humorous songs,” says Ray to NCD. “I always try to record at least a couple on each record. I wrote ‘Put Down That Gun’ with my good buddy Mark Stephen Jones, he’s one of my favorite co-writers. We were sitting around one day and he told me a story about somebody we know who got caught by his girlfriend in a precarious situation. Basically, he was sitting on a toilet naked with a guitar in his lap singing a song for a woman who was also naked laying in the tub next to him. I thought that was a hell of a predicament to find yourself in. We laughed about that for a little bit and then we just kinda started talking about what his girlfriend’s reaction might have been. So this song kind of came out of that.”
Listen to the exclusive premiere of “Put Down That Gun,” and pick up a copy of Ray’s new album, Guitar For Sale, on June 9.
photo courtesy Webster PR
