An investigation is underway following a deadly July 4th accident in South Knoxville.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office responding to the 600 block of West Marine Road and the preliminary investigation suggests the vehicle went off the road, hitting a utility pole. That driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rising Tennessee sophomore Tobe Awaka was a top contributor—and a rebounding juggernaut—for Team USA during its fourth-place showing at the 2023 FIBA Men’s U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary.
The United States (5-2) fell to Turkey in Sunday’s bronze-medal game, one day after losing to France in the semifinals. Spain defeated France in Sunday’s gold-medal game.
Awaka started six of seven games for Team USA and was the squad’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.6 points while shooting .600 from the field. His 10.6 rebounds per game led Team USA and were the second-most among all players in the tournament.
Had France’s Zacharie Perrin not totaled 20 rebounds in the gold-medal game, Awaka would have finished as the event’s top rebounder. Awaka’s 20.4 rebounds per 40 minutes far and away led all players who logged significant minutes during the tournament.
In total, 35 of Awaka’s 74 rebounds came on the offensive glass (5.0 orpg). No other player in the field grabbed more offensive boards, with the next-closest player having 31.
Awaka—who averaged just 20.7 minutes per game—was the only player in the field to record four double-doubles. His 18.1 FIBA efficiency rating for the tournament was the best on Team USA and fifth-best among all players at the elite global event.
The United States team was coached by Colorado’s Tad Boyle, with Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton Jr. and Boise State’s Leon Rice assisting.
All games from the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup can be rewatched HERE.
Thanks in part to his valuable international experience this summer, Awaka appears poised to step into a larger role for the Vols this coming season after averaging 3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game as a true freshman last year.
AWAKA’S GAME-BY-GAME HIGHLIGHTS
June 24 – USA defeats Madagascar, 136-69
In his USA Basketball debut, Awaka came off the bench and recorded 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. In close to 16 minutes of action, he blocked two shots and hauled in seven rebounds—including four offensive boards.
June 25 – USA defeats Slovenia, 77-72
Promoted into Team USA’s starting lineup, Awaka logged a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Six of his rebounds came on the offensive glass, as the immense talent for extending possessions that he flashed as a freshman at Tennessee extended into FIBA international play.
June 27 – USA defeats Lebanon, 122-70
Awaka recorded a plus/minus rating of +14 during this 52-point victory for the Americans. In less than 12 minutes of action, he totaled five points, eight rebounds and a steal.
June 28 – USA defeats China, 92-69
With China threatening to take the lead during a third-quarter run, Awaka took over the game with a 10-point outburst during a game-changing 17-0 run by Team USA. He finished with a team-high 15 points and also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the tournament.
June 30 – USA defeats Japan, 105-61
Awaka made his fourth consecutive start, but his efficient play fueled Team USA to such an overpowering performance, he was only needed for 15:15 of game time. Despite the light workload in terms of minutes, he still produced another double, totaling 14 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 6-for-9 from the field, made both of his free-throw attempts and gobbled up six offensive boards in the win.
July 1 – France defeats USA,
Despite the disappointing result for Team USA, Awaka did a bit of everything in 24 highly efficient minutes. He shot 6-for-8 from the field, and his final line featured 14 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and a block. The game marked his tournament-leading fourth double-double of the tournament.
July 2 – Turkey defeats USA, 84-70
Awaka led the United States with 13 rebounds while also chipping in seven points and a steal. His putback slam midway through the third quarter brought the trailing U.S. squad to within one point, but Turkey immediately reeled off an 11-2 run to restore its double-digit lead. His 30 minutes played were his most in any game at the U19 World Cup.
-UT Athletics
The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees on Friday approved Tennessee Athletics’ request to increase the budget for phase 1 of the historic Neyland Stadium renovation project by $49 million to $337 million.
The project aligns with Tennessee Athletics’ stated goals of modernizing the fan and visitor experience through enhanced amenities and diversified seating options, improving fan safety and security and aligning stadium features and aesthetics with campus architectural standards.
Last fall, guests at Neyland Stadium observed a totally new state-of-the-art videoboard in the stadium’s north upper deck, enhanced video components in the existing south videoboard and the introduction of two new premium amenities in the lower-west club and upper-north social deck.
Future updates feature necessary upgrades to the south side and perimeter of the stadium, including the widening of concourses, construction of expanded gates and entryways and additional restrooms and concessions areas. The delivery of this component will dramatically improve fan comfort and safety, reduce wait times and allow for more food and beverage offerings.
As previously announced, the project will include new deliverables each football season through the fall of 2026.
Fall 2023
Fall 2024
Fall 2025
Fall 2026
-UT Athletics
Following overwhelmingly positive feedback on initial concept renderings released last summer, Tennessee Athletics is poised to move forward on a transformational renovation project at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees on Friday approved the renovation budget and work will commence this August.
Concurrent with the renovation planning, a series of stadium improvements were completed prior to the 2023 season to upgrade the student-athlete experience with an upgraded locker room and weight room along with a third level of porches for fans in the outfield.
Through a multi-year construction process, Lindsey Nelson Stadium will transform into one of the premier college baseball venues in the country with world-class player development areas, multiple new gates, increased seating capacity to approximately 7,600 fans, wider concourses, more concession stands and restrooms and new luxurious premium-seating offerings.
“The interest and excitement surrounding our plans for the new-look Lindsey Nelson Stadium have been overwhelming,” Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. “After seeking additional input from Vol Nation through our fan surveys, it was apparent that we needed to think even bigger. But one thing we’ve been strategic about throughout this process is ensuring that the final product provides our team with the most unique and tangible homefield advantage in college baseball. Our fans and students always make their presence felt—and we want to maximize their impact on winning ballgames.”
The project’s guiding principle is to craft a first-class ballpark experience featuring innovative design solutions that inspire both fans and players to experience Tennessee baseball gamedays in new and exciting ways while simultaneously boosting the program’s ability to attract and retain elite student-athletes driven to succeed on and off the diamond.
“Since arriving in Knoxville, our staff, in combination with the university’s support, have earmarked player development as priority number one,” Vols head coach and two-time National Coach of the Year Tony Vitello said. “With these proposed renovations, our player development areas will go from some of the best in the country to a truly elite status. And this is only a portion of the extensive work that ultimately will result in a facility worthy of its fan base.
“The players we have been blessed to coach here have created a significant need for increased capacity. To date, our fans have been arguably the rowdiest in the country. Now, similar to our football and basketball facilities, we will have seating capacity that is more appropriate to house not just passion of our fans but the quantity, as well.”
Based on both fan feedback and construction market conditions, the project scope and budget has increased since last summer’s initial proposal. Multiple scope elements will ultimately assist in funding portions of the project’s growth.
Projected seating capacity has grown to over 6,100 permanent seats with the ability to provide standing room access for an additional 1,600 spectators. In addition to expanding traditional seating areas, a primary focus is to provide a diversity of seating products including new premium-seating options including an expanded MVP Room, a club level that seats close to 800 spectators, and multiple tiers of four-seat tabletop seating (4topps) overlooking third base.
Plans also call for expanded concourse space and an increase in concessions locations and restrooms to accommodate the additional foot traffic. The project will also provide upgrades to back of house and media areas.
The addition of an on-site kitchen also delivers the ability to significantly enhance concessions quality and variety for guests—venue-wide—throughout the season.
Finally, two entry gates—including one specifically for student use—will be added to facilitate both the expanded long-term capacity as well as fan ingress and egress during the project’s phased construction.
The project budget totals $95.8 million.
Since being named head coach of Tennessee’s baseball program, Vitello has led the Big Orange back to national prominence and has helped establish the Volunteers as an SEC and national power, leading the program to four NCAA Regionals (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), three consecutive NCAA Super Regionals (2021, 2022, 2023) and the program’s sixth Men’s College World Series appearance (2023). It marked the second time in the last three seasons that Vitello has led the Vols to Omaha.
Tennessee baseball fans that are interested in supporting the stadium project and/or contributing to the program’s baseball excellence fund can visit the Tennessee Fund website or call (865) 974-1218 for information.
-UT Athletics
Complete ACC-SEC Challenge Schedule
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – ESPN revealed the first glimpse of Tennessee’s 2023-24 women’s hoops schedule on Wednesday morning, announcing the Lady Vols will play host to Notre Dame on Nov. 29 as part of a 14-game ACC-SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge.
The Big Orange and the Fighting Irish are slated to play at 5 ET on that Wednesday evening, battling in one of four games tipping at that early time. The broadcast designation will be released later.
Both teams enter the upcoming campaign with lofty expectations after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2022-23. Notre Dame is ranked No. 10 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, while Tennessee is slotted at No. 12 in that poll with its placement by that organization occurring before two-time All-ACC performer Jewel Spear of Wake Forest announced she was joining the Lady Vols. The ESPN rankings haven’t been updated since that time.
UT returns nine players, including six who started games a year ago. Six-foot-two, fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson, who earned All-America honorable mention, first-team All-SEC and Cheryl Miller Award top-five finalist accolades a year ago after averaging 19.2 ppg. and 6.1 rpg., is back to set the tone for the Big Orange.
Tamari Key, a 6-6 interior force on both ends of the floor, returns to action after last season ended in her ninth game due to medical reasons. She is a two-time SEC All-Defensive Team member, a 2022 Lisa Leslie Award finalist and 2022 All-SEC honoree. UT also welcomes back its fourth- and fifth-leading scorers in 6-1 senior wing Tess Darby (7.4 ppg., 70 3FGs) and 6-5 junior forward Jillian Hollingshead (6.2 ppg., 4.4 rpg.).
Newcomers include Spear and fellow senior guard Destinee Wells (Belmont), and sophomore guard/forward Avery Strickland (Pitt). Spear and Wells were ranked No. 7 and No. 19 by 247Sports among top transfers and along with Strickland helped Tennessee card the No. 6-ranked transfer class nationally, according to 247Sports analyst Brandon Clay.
UND, meanwhile, returns its top three leading scorers in Sonia Citron (14.7 ppg., 5.5 rpg.), Olivia Miles (14.3 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 6.9 apg.) and Maddy Westbeld (11.2 ppg., 6.6 rpg.) from a squad that went 27-6 overall and 15-3 in ACC play. The Irish are led by fourth-year head coach Niele Ivey.
Tennessee is 22-8 all-time vs. Notre Dame, including 1-0 through four complete years under Kellie Harper. The LVFL guided her first UT squad to a 74-63 signature road victory over the Muffet McGraw-helmed No. 15/14 Irish on Nov. 11, 2019. Ivey took the reins from McGraw after that season, and the two programs will meet in 2023 for the first occasion since then.
Lady Vol season tickets are available here.
-UT Athletics
Matchups for the inaugural men’s basketball ACC/SEC Challenge were revealed Wednesday, with Tennessee selected to play at North Carolina on Nov. 29.
The new ACC/SEC Challenge replaces the now defunct SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which was contested from 2014-23. The Volunteers and Tar Heels will tipoff from the Dean E. Smith Center at 7:15 p.m. ET on the ESPN family of networks.
Tennessee has won just twice in 12 all-time games against North Carolina. The Vols triumphed in the most recent meeting, riding an 18-point performance from then-freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler to a 17-point win over the 18th-ranked Tar Heels at the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut.
In its most recent trip to Chapel Hill, UT led for nearly 31 minutes before a late North Carolina surge lifted seventh-ranked UNC to a 73-71 victory on Dec. 11, 2016. Tennessee’s only other visits to Chapel Hill came in 1947 and 1911.
The Vols now will play at least two ACC foes next season. It was previously announced that Tennessee will face NC State in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 16. It is also possible that UT could match up against Syracuse at the Maui Invitational the week of Thanksgiving.
Tennessee is 114-100 all-time against current members of the ACC. Vols head coach Rick Barnes—a native of Hickory, North Carolina—owns a 75-75 head coaching record against ACC opposition, including a 7-12 mark vs. UNC.
A pair of current Vols also hail from the state of North Carolina. Junior forward Jonas Aidoo grew up in Durham, and freshman guard Freddie Dilione V is from Fayetteville.
-UT Athletics
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee’s 2023-24 women’s basketball home and away SEC opponents have been revealed, as the conference office announced Wednesday morning each school’s league foes for the upcoming campaign.
As part of the 16-game SEC schedule, the Lady Vols feature home contests vs. Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
On the road, UT will play against Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
The schedule consists of a single round robin (10 games) of home and away with one permanent opponent (2 games) and two rotating opponents (4 games). In addition to its permanent home-and-home rival, Vanderbilt, Tennessee plays its rotating home-and-away contests against South Carolina and Texas A&M during the upcoming campaign. The rotating opponents change annually.
The upcoming conference season marks the 15th year of the 16‐game schedule for women’s basketball and the 12th with 14 teams. Times, dates and television information for the 2023-24 SEC schedule will be released at a later date, as will the complete Lady Vol non-conference slate.
Three of the league opponents UT will face are ranked among ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early Top 25,” including LSU at No. 1, South Carolina at No. 8 and Ole Miss at No. 11. Tennessee is ranked No. 12 in the May 2 edition of the ESPN poll, which was published before Jewel Spear signed with Tennessee and hasn’t been updated since then.
UT returns nine players, including six who started games a year ago, from a squad that finished 25-12 overall and 13-3 in the SEC (3rd) while defeating LSU and advancing to its first SEC Tournament title game since 2015 and the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive season. It did so despite losing 6-foot-6 center Tamari Key for the year after nine games.
In terms of personnel, the Lady Vols return fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson, an All-America honorable mention selection and All-SEC First Team choice who led the team in scoring at 19.2 ppg. and pulled down 6.1 rpg., as well as a two-time SEC All-Defensive Team and 2022 Coaches All-SEC Second Team choice in redshirt senior Key (8.4 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 66.7 FG% during a 2022-23 year that ended early for medical reasons). Key is the school’s all-time record-holder for blocked shots in a season (119) and career (295) and is among its leaders in field goal percentage as well.
Other 2022-23 contributors with extensive experience include senior guard/forward Tess Darby (7.4 ppg., 2.9 rpg. 70 3FGs), junior forward Jillian Hollingshead (6.2 ppg., 4.4 rpg., 48.6% FG), fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell (4.7 ppg., 3.1 apg., 2.6 rpg., 19 3FGs), junior guard forward Sara Puckett (4.7 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 26 3FGs), junior forward Karoline Striplin (4.7 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 50% FG, 12 3FGs) and junior guard Kaiya Wynn (1.5 ppg., 1.0 rpg.).
Newcomers include senior guards Jewel Spear and Destinee Wells, and sophomore guard/forward Avery Strickland. Spear and Wells were ranked No. 7 and No. 19 by 247Sports among top transfers and along with Strickland helped Tennessee secure the No. 6-ranked transfer class nationally, according to 247Sports analyst Brandon Clay.
Spear, a two-time All-ACC and ACC All-Tournament Team honoree during her three seasons at Wake Forest, put up 16.5 ppg.. 3.7 rpg., 1.8 apg. and 93 three-pointers in 2022-23 while leading the Demon Deacons in scoring and ranking fifth in the ACC in points per game.
Wells was a three-time all-conference performer at Belmont who produced 19.5 ppg., 4.9 apg. and 65 treys in 2022-23, including 32.4 ppg. over the last five games during postseason tournament play. She shot career bests of 48.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent on threes while draining 86.1 percent at the charity stripe a year ago.
Strickland appeared in 30 contests at Pitt last season, contributing 6.2 ppg., 1.7 rpg. and 39 threes. During the last six games of the 2022-23 campaign, she increased her production to 8.3 points and 2.5 rebounds, drained 11 three-pointers and shot 45 percent overall and 42.3 percent on treys.
Fans interested in being part of the highly-anticipated action at Thompson-Boling Arena are encouraged to click HERE for ticket information.
-UT Athletics
Final Directors’ Cup Standings
With the NCAA’s athletic year complete, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) published the final 2022-23 LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings Wednesday, and Tennessee locked in its best finish ever at No. 6.
Tennessee last posted a top-10 Directors’ Cup finish in 2006-07 when it landed at a previous-best No. 7.
With 1,078.75 total points this year—accumulated thanks to scoring contributions of at least 25 points by 19 different teams—Tennessee finished second among SEC schools.
For a team-by-team scoring breakdown, see the sidebar HERE.
Tennessee sat in 10th place when NACDA posted its previous standings update on June 13. And thanks to the Volunteers baseball program netting 78 points with its run to the College World Series, UT leapfrogged Michigan, USC, North Carolina and Georgia in the final standings.
“Competitive excellence is a major priority in Rise Glorious, our comprehensive five-year strategic plan, and to record our best LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup finish ever is an incredible achievement,” Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. “It’s important to us to cultivate a championship culture across all 20 of our sports, and this finish is a prime example of that. Congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches and staff on this record finish. Buckle up Vol Nation, we’re just getting started, and it’s going to be one heck of a ride!”
The Big Orange have steadily ascended in the Directors’ Cup standings over the last three years since the competition was canceled in 2019-20. Tennessee finished 26th in 2020-21 and 13th a year ago.
Tennessee’s consecutive top-15 finishes align with one of the strategies outlined in the department’s Rise Glorious Strategic Plan, published last July. Under its Competitive Excellence priority, the plan aspires for UT to “finish in the top 15 [in the Directors’ Cup] in three out of every five years.”
This latest achievement relating to competitive excellence comes just a month after Tennessee won its second consecutive SEC All-Sports title. In doing so, it became only the second school ever to sweep both the men’s and women’s SEC All-Sports standings.
-UT Athletics
Futures Game Homepage | Futures Game Roster
SEATTLE – In just his first season of professional baseball, VFL Drew Gilbert was selected to participate in the 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at T-Mobile Park during the Major League Baseball All-Star Week in Seattle, Washington. The game will be played on Saturday, July 8 at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast exclusively on Peacock.
The Futures Game is in its 24th year and puts the stars of tomorrow on the Big-League field as part of All-Star Week while they are still advancing through the minor leagues. In the 2023 edition of the Futures Game, 28 of the 50 participants are currently ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top-100 Prospect Rankings. Gilbert currently sits at No. 76 on that list.
Gilbert becomes the fifth former Volunteer to be selected for the game, joining Nick Senzel (2017), Christin Stewart (2016), Luke Hochevar (2007) and Chris Burke (2003, 2004). Each of those four players was called up to the Major Leagues within two years and Hochevar was a September call-up for Kansas City in the 2007 season.
On the season, Gilbert is hitting .265 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs, 57 hits and 42 runs scored. The top-ranked prospect in the Astros’ farm system started the year with High-A Asheville and in just over a month he secured a promotion to Double-A Corpus Christi. Gilbert will play on the American League team which is coached by Harold Reynolds.
Gilbert was a first-round selection by Houston in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft and was taken with the No. 28 overall pick after an All-American collegiate career at Tennessee.
-UT Athletics
The Southeastern Conference released each school’s conference opponents for the upcoming 2023-24 men’s basketball season Monday.
As part of the 18-game league schedule, Tennessee’s home slate features games against Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
The Vols have scheduled conference road trips at Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
In addition to its three permanent home-and-home opponents—Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt—Tennessee will also play home-and-home series against Alabama and Texas A&M during the 2023-24 season.
Dates, tipoff times and television information for the SEC portion of UT’s schedule will be released at a later date.
Coming off a season in which it made a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, Tennessee is primed for another strong showing in its ninth season under head coach Rick Barnes in 2023-24.
Barnes and his staff will deploy a new-look roster, led by Josiah-Jordan James, two-time All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi and point guard Zakai Zeigler, a two-time SEC All-Defensive Team selection.
Additional returners include juniors Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack, sophomore Tobe Awaka and redshirt freshmen Freddie Dilione V and D.J. Jefferson.
The Vols also added three newcomers with Division I experience via the NCAA Transfer Portal in guards Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) and Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and forward Chris Ledlum (Harvard).
Additionally, Tennessee welcomes three true freshmen newcomers in guard Cameron Carr and forwards J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips.
Fans interested in being a part of the action at Thompson-Boling Arena next season are encouraged to click HERE.
-UT Athletics
