Even before Chris Janson’s current single hit country radio, he knew there was something special about “Bye Mom.”
Chris shares, “I was playing it for the fans before was on the radio and so I was seeing the real reaction whether it was going to work or not you know by looking at faces in the crowd.”
He adds, “The first time I played ‘Bye Mom’ was an immediate reaction…it was a reactive song I mean people were putting their video cameras up and videoing it, like you know, that doesn’t happen every song. So, they were doing that and that was kind of my first clue and then played it live on the Opry one time…impromptu…didn’t tell anybody I was doing it – nobody had any clue. Nobody had any idea what the song was. Never heard it before. I played it to a standing ovation…to a sold out Opry, and it’s just because the lyrics. It was just me and a guitar but the lyrical content struck a chord with people, so we knew we had something really special.”
More fans will get to have a special moment seeing Chris Janson perform this song live in concert as his Halfway To Crazy tour launces next month on February 10th in Dubuque, Iowa.
Check out the music video for Chris Janson’s “Bye Mom” which features the song’s co-writer Brandon Kinney and his family.
Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa hosts a Winter Music Series each year with some amazing performers and songwriters. Sign up to win an overnight stay at the resort, dinner for 2 at Song & Hearth Restaurant and 2 tickets to enjoy one of the winter music series events!
On an injury update for Josiah-Jordan James… “He’s working his way back. It will really be a game-time decision. But, again, we’re trying to work his way back, that’s what he’s trying to do.”
On if LSU is a team that plays with as much emotion as any team in the SEC… “It’s really hard for me to say that one team plays with more (emotion). In this league, I think every team has its own personality and emotion, whatever word you want to put on it. I believe that. I think Will (Wade’s) teams play the way he wants them to play. They do a really nice job of mixing their defenses. They’re a team that really relies on your turnovers and you not taking care of the ball. I think they lead the nation in steals, No. 1 defensive team in the country. Then on the offensive end, they’re really good in isolation, good one-on-one players. But there’s a pace they like to play with. He’s done a good job with them. You go back over the last couple years, you can’t argue with the success that he’s had.”
Vols HC Rick Barnes / Credit: UT Athletics
On LSU defeating Tennessee four straight times… “I think they’re a good team, I do. I think they’re a good team. I don’t know what else I could tell you. Like any other team in the league, we need to play good basketball. We need to have everybody playing good basketball. But again, and I’ve said it, they really do a good job with their one-on-one matchups, the way they like to do that. They’ve had athletic players. We need to play better, we need to do better.”
On the injury for Josiah-Jordan James… “He just got hit. He had a little cut above his eye, on the forehead.”
On Vanderbilt being physical while guarding Santiago Vescovi… “I told him he ought to be honored with it. I said it tells you how good of a player you’ve become and how people think you’re that important. And Santi is having a great year. You look at his numbers across the board, with everything that he’s doing. I think, one, he will continue to adjust to it. But I told him yesterday, you should be proud of that. The fact that people recognize you’re that kind of player. Again, I like him showing some frustration, if that’s what you want to call it. You know what? Santi doesn’t mind being physical at all. He really doesn’t. I think all players feel it gets to a point where enough is enough. I think that’s what he feels at times. I think he felt that the last time we played LSU. But he’s not going to back down. He’s not going to back down from anybody.”
On Zakai Zeigler’s stat line at Vanderbilt… “We have talked about him a lot. He is probably, arguably the biggest surprise on our team this year. We were excited when we got him. The impact that he has made, did we think we were going to get that? Probably not. After him being here a short time—I keep going back to it, what is in his DNA. I don’t think there’s any question he is a competitor. I also think that is a sign of a good player that understands how to impact the game when he is not making shots. Some guys, they get so wrapped up in making shots and making shots. The play of game the was arguably his defensive steal. He impacted the game on the other end. I wish more players would let their offense go. I don’t think he took a bad shot in the game. It didn’t go in, but he found a way to the free-throw line. He impacted the game by just playing hard and not letting the fact that he was 0-for-8 get him in a funk where he couldn’t think and couldn’t play. That goes back again to his DNA.”
On if Uros Plavsic will start again… “Yes, he will.”
On Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and the way he played at Vanderbilt… “We are trying to get to where we get that rotation that we want to have. I think we are hoping he will continue to grow and blossom in there. We need production, there is no doubt about it. Brandon still has to catch up with the speed of the game and understand that activity that is always going in even when he is not involved in it. I say it all the time, but going from one play to the next play. Doing his work early. Getting set defensively. It is there in him. He just has to decide he wants to bring it out. It is a process. We knew that. I have said before, he has come a long way. People have no idea how far he has come in many different areas. Now, we would like to see him keep going and get more production when he is in the game.”
On if the starting lineup could still change… “I think it could change. I have told you guys every year since I have been here, I don’t really care who starts the game. I am more interested in who we have to have to finish it. I think the first four minutes of the game are important. I think the most important part of the game is the three minutes coming out of halftime. We will go in and come up with a starting lineup based on what we see with consistency every day in practice.”
On facing LSU so quickly after the first game… “It seems like it is a long time ago from my perspective because we have had so much in between and so many things we have worked through with our team and games. It seems like it was a long time ago to be quite honest with you.”
On Olivier Nkamhoua’s recent play… “If we can just get Olivier to truly buy in to what we need from him—again, I think it kind of goes back to what Uros stated after the game the other night, it took him awhile to totally figure out what he needed to do to help our team. I still think Olivier is working through that in terms of consistency. We need him. He is arguably the most athletic guy on our team, and we need him to show that athleticism in a lot of different ways, whether it’s rebounding and blocking shots, which he’s proven he can do, or whether it’s when we go to our switch package and he can defend guards and stay in front of them while still doing what we need him to do on the offensive end. Again, we hope that he can get to the point where we know exactly what we’re going to get form him every single night.”
On if he thinks LSU is one of the more athletic teams in the SEC… “I think they’re athletic. I think the way that Will (Wade) wants to build his team, I think I would say athletic and quickness. I think he likes offensive-minded players. They’ve changed their style from a year ago…their defense is different in terms of they’re trying to create a lot of offense with their defense. If you go back and look, they get 23 or 24 points per game off of their defense. You could maybe even break it down where it could be more. So when you play against them, everything you’re doing on your offensive end could dictate how good they are on the offensive end. Shot selection for us is really important because if you take shots where your isn’t ready to be in position to defend in transition defense or they just don’t expect it—(LSU) does a great job of capitalizing in those situations.”
On the top things he emphasizes to his team when facing LSU… “Obviously you have to take care of the basketball. That’s really important against a team that thrives on your turnovers and your mistakes—early missed shots, whatever it may be. You have to take care of the ball, and I think it’s really important from our perspective that we understand scouting reports from individual personnel. Every game is going to go back to the fundamentals of the game. You have to rebound the basketball. Our defense has to be on point. We just need a great effort from everyone.”
On how Quentin Diboundje has progressed and what situation he’s looking for to put him into a game… “Quentin has continued to work. He’s like all freshmen that come into college basketball. It’s all new to him, he’s still trying to figure it out. It’s just like Jahmai (Mashack). I think he slowly but surely is understanding more and more what we need from him and how we need it. I think Quentin has gotten to that point as well. The question you ask is a hard one to answer as far as what point in time in a game—I don’t know, I wish I did. We’re proud of him, he’s continued to work, he’s working hard every day, and at some point it’ll happen. All I know is that I’m excited he’s in our program and he has a great future ahead of him.”
On the success the team has found in home games with a 9-0 start in home matchups this season… “Really, I think it’s just the energy that Rocky Top brings to us. We know that coming into every game here, they’re going to have our backs no matter what. In every game, we have the same mindset that we believe we’re going to win. It’s like no other.”
On his late-game steal at Vanderbilt in Tuesday’s win… “A few plays before that, I saw them being lazy while taking the ball out-of-bounds. They were being a little lackadaisical, so I knew on one of those times that I was going to get one of the steals. When I saw that moment happen, I saw the guy taking it out and being lazy under the basket, I knew I could jump for it.”
On the athleticism of LSU… “They’re a very, very athletic team. We know that they have a few shot blockers, some guys that can play above the rim and some guys that can shoot the ball. But, we also know that we can bring that same energy right back to them. We’re not really worried about how athletic they are. We’re just getting back to us.”
On the team’s scrappiness, especially that of Santiago Vescovi in the win at Vanderbilt… “I love it. We bring that physicality every day in practice to each other, no matter what. Once we go and play other people and see how other people react, it just brings out a fire in all of us once we see one person get into it.”
For those that weren’t able to make it down to Riviera Cancun, Mexico for Crash My Playa 2022, Luke Bryan put together a little video to give an idea of how day 1 of the 4 day event went.
Caitlyn Smith was the first to take the stage on night 2 of Crash My Playa 2022
LOCASH cranked up the party…
Luke Bryan returned to the stage after losing his voice due to his Georgia Bulldogs winning the college National Championship game a couple weeks ago – but there’s no way he was missing out on entertaining this crowd.
With a list of hits a mile long, Luke had the crowd going with this one…
While the night did end, there’s still two more days for Crash My Playa 2022 – with performances from Jordan Davis, Jameson Rodgers, Whitney Duncan, Riley Green, Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch and Luke Bryan with Darius Rucker for the closing show on Saturday.
Walker Hayes new project, Country Stuff The Album is available now!
If fans were surprised that Walker Hayes released a new album, turns out they weren’t the only ones…Walker shares, “We weren’t even thinking about an album six months ago. ‘Fancy Like’ happened, and they said, ‘Hey, we need an album.'”
Walker continues, “Work got really busy, so you know it was kind of tough to focus on writing new material, while we were out there just riding that that ‘Fancy Like’ wave. But, somehow it came together. It’s such a great relief, you know, to get it out.”
Country Stuff The Album track listing;
01) “Drinking Songs” 02) “AA” 03) “Life With You” 04) “U Gurl” 05) “DeLorean” 06) “Fancy Like” 07) “Craig” (feat. MercyMe) 08) “What You Don’t Wish For” 09) “Country Stuff” (feat. Jake Owen) 10) “I Hope You Miss Me” 11) “Briefcase” (feat. Lori McKenna) 12) “Cry” 13) “What If We Did” (feat. Carly Pearce)
Along with “Fancy Like” fans are reaching out to Walker about his music and sending messages of what his songs mean to them, “I’m just so grateful that people can relate. That gives me a job. My kids and my wife, they get to have a father and husband, who, who just really finds a lot of joy in my occupation. And that kinda makes me a better husband and father you know when I’m with them.”
Country Stuff The Album from Walker Hayes features his latest single at country radio – another track that fans are relating to and loving – “AA.”
Brothers Osborne released Skeletons in October of 2020 – and at the time TJ and John Osborne felt the album got lost because of everything else that was happening in the world.
But now the duo has added some new tracks , and created a Deluxe Edition of Skeletons – which is available now.
Along with the original 12-tracks on Skeletons, the deluxe version adds 3 new songs “Headstone,” “Midnight Rider’s Prayer” and “Younger Me.”
Skeletons Deluxe Track List:
1. “Lighten Up” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk) 2. “All Night” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Andrew DeRoberts) 3. “All the Good Ones Are” (TJ Osborne, Lee Miller and Craig Wiseman) 4. “I’m Not for Everyone” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby) 5. “Skeletons” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Andrew DeRoberts) 6. “Back On The Bottle” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Hayes Carll) 7. “High Note” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Casey Beathard and Dustin Christensen) 8. “Muskrat Greene” (John Osborne) 9. “Dead Man’s Curve” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Lee Miller) 10. “Make It a Good One” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Stephen Wilson Jr.) 11. “Hatin’ Somebody” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne and Casey Beathard) 12. “Old Man’s Boots” (John Osborne) 13. “Younger Me” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Kendell Marvel) 14. “Headstone” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Kendell Marvel) 15. “Midnight Rider’s Prayer” (John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Paul Moak, Willie Nelson)
“Headstone” is produced by Jay Joyce while “Midnight Rider’s Prayer” was recorded at John Osborne’s home studio and co-produced by the duo and, with Willie Nelson’s personal blessing, uses elements of “On the Road Again.” “Younger Me” rounds out the Skeletons Deluxe track list.
Brothers Osborne’s current single at country radio is “I’m Not For Everyone.”
Texas Hill‘s debut full-length album Heaven Down Here is available now.
Texas Hill is a trio comprised of Adam Wakefield, Casey James, and Craig Wayne Boyd.
The formation of Texas Hill started in 2019 when James and Boyd ran into one another at an event in Nashville which led to a friendship that also revealed the musical kinship the two native Texans had.
After several weeks of getting together and playing music, Craig Wayne brought in his friend Wakefield into the mix.
Two became three, and the sound solidified.
Adam Wakefield says, “We have our own sound as a collective, and nothing shows that more than when we flip parts around and still sound the same. These three timbres together, regardless of what register they’re in, they create their own sound.”
Casey James shares why the trio of singers works, “Everybody has strengths in different places, and that’s what makes this so rewarding. It’s three lead singers, and we each can take the reins at different times. But we’re also able to kick back and let somebody else take charge.”
Along with their music, the 3 men could relate to one another because of their experience on The Voice (Boyd, Wakefield) and American Idol (James).
Craig Wayne Boyd shares, “When you go through something like that, the only people that can really relate to it are the ones who’ve also gone through it,” Boyd adds, “The navigation is going to be just as hard as it ever was, but it’s so much more rewarding when you’re doing it as a group.”
After releasing a couple of EPs and a holiday project, Heaven Down Here is the group’s first full-length album that includes the title track, “Up One Side,” “Where The Lonely Go,” “For The Love Of It,” “Easy On The Eyes” and 7 additional tracks.
Heaven Down Here track list
01) “Heaven Down Here” 02) “For The Love Of It” 03) “Up One Side” 04) “Four Roses” 05) “Love Me When I’m Leaving” 06) “Neon Heart” 07) “Easy On The Eyes” 08) “Where The Lonely Go” 09) “Love Is A River” 10) “Sugar Cane” 11) “Darkest Sky” 12) “For The Love Of It” (Encore Version)
Congrats to LukeCombs and his wife Nicole as they announce they are expecting their first child this Spring!
Heading to social media to share the news – Luke posted, “Here we go y’all! Lil dude Combs is coming this Spring! Couldn’t be more excited to start a family with this babe. It’s gonna be a hell of a ride.”
Luke included a couple pictures of him and Nicole along with the sonogram photo.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 24th-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team is back at Thompson-Boling Arena for its first home Saturday SEC game of the season, taking on No. 13 LSU for the second time in two weeks. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET.
Vols G Kennedy Chandler / Credit: UT Athletics
Fans can catch Saturday’s game on ESPN and online or on any mobile device through WatchESPN. WatchESPN can be accessed through the ESPN App, or online at espn.com/watch. Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analysis) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp calling the action. The broadcast is also available on channel 84 on Sirius, SiriusXM and the SiriusXM app.
Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 SEC) enters Saturday’s game coming off of its first SEC road win of the season, taking down in-state foe Vanderbilt on Tuesday, 68-60. Santiago Vescovi led the Vols in scoring with 14 points, also grabbing six rebounds. Uros Plavsic, who was inserted into the starting lineup for the third time this season, scored a season-high 13 points and had seven rebounds in a season-high 21 minutes.
Saturday marks the second meeting between Tennessee and LSU this season, with the Tigers winning the first matchup in Baton Rouge on Jan. 8. Since 2018, Rick Barnes and his staff have guided the Volunteers to a 14-5 record in regular-season rematch games (SEC Tournament games not included).
Up next, Tennessee returns to Thompson-Boling Arena for a second straight home game on Wednesday against Florida. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
THE SERIES • Tennessee leads the all-time series with LSU, 65-50, dating to 1933. • The Vols hold a 31-18 edge when the series is contested in Knoxville. • Tennessee is a perfect 9-0 at home this season and is riding a 10-game win streak at Thompson-Boling Arena dating to last season. • LSU and Tennessee boast the nation’s No. 1- and No. 5-rated KenPom defensive efficiencies, respectively. • In three career games vs. LSU, Santiago Vescovi is shooting .500 (12-for-24) from 3-point range and averaging 15.0 points. • The Vols are forcing an average of 19.0 turnovers per game during SEC play. The next-closest SEC team (LSU) forces 16.8 per game.
LAYUP LINES – TEAM • In 2017-18, Tennessee owned a 12-5 (3-3) record six games into SEC play—identical to where this year’s team stands currently. Those 2017-18 Vols went on to post a 13-5 league finish en route to the SEC Championship. • Saturday marks Tennessee’s seventh game this season against an AP top-25 opponent. The Vols are 2-4 vs. top-25 foes thus far. • According to KenPom, the Vols rank fifth in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing only 88.5 points per 100 possessions. • The Vols rank among the Division I top 20 in steals per game (10.5, 7th), turnover margin (+5.6, 7th) and assists per game (16.9, 20th). • Tennessee has pulled down 10 or more offensive rebounds in each of its last 10 games. • In each of UT’s three SEC wins, the Vols have forced more than 20 turnovers. • 42 percent of Tennessee’s points this season have been scored by first-year Vols (532 of 1276).
LAYUP LINES – PLAYERS • Santiago Vescovi has increased his team-leading 14.0 ppg scoring average to 15.3 ppg in SEC play. • Vescovi’s 3.17 3-point makes per game during SEC play lead the league. • Josiah-Jordan James played just 3:57 at Vanderbilt Tuesday before leaving the game due to injury. His status for Saturday is uncertain. • Kennedy Chandler’s 2.44 steals per game lead all Division I true freshmen. And his 4.9 assists per game rank third among true freshmen nationally. • Chandler’s 3.4 steals per game during SEC play lead the league. • The SEC record for career games played is 152, held by Kentucky’s Darius Miller (2008-12). John Fulkerson is closing in, having now appeared in a Tennessee-record 147 career games. • Fulkerson also is just six points shy of 1,000 for his career.
ABOUT LSU • For the first time this season, LSU (15-3, 3-3 SEC) is coming off of two consecutive losses. The Tigers fell at home to Arkansas last Saturday before losing again at Alabama on Wednesday. • Including Saturday’s game in Knoxville, each of LSU’s first seven games have come against teams ranked in the top seven of the SEC Preseason Media Poll. • Saturday’s game is a matchup of two of the nation’s top five rated defenses in adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom. LSU’s defense ranks No. 1, allowing just 81.3 points per 100 possessions, while Tennessee is No. 5 with a 88.5 mark. • The Tigers’ leading scorer is sophomore forward Tari Eason, a transfer from Cincinnati. Averaging 16.0 points per game, Eason currently ranks sixth in the SEC in scoring. Eason led the Tigers with 24 points and 12 rebounds during Tennessee and LSU’s first meeting on Jan. 8 in Baton Rouge. • LSU has played its last three games without starting point guard and third-leading scorer Xavier Pinson, who was injured in the first meeting between the Tigers and Vols. Before getting injured, Pinson started all 15 of LSU’s games and was averaging 10.9 points and 4.6 assists in 27 minutes per game. • LSU was also without senior forward Darius Days, a Preseason First Team All-SEC selection, for the majority of Wednesday’s loss at Alabama. Days exited the game due to injury late in the first half and did not return. Days is the Tigers’ second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg) and leading rebounder (7.3 rpg).
LAST MEETING WITH LSU • The 18th-ranked Tennessee basketball team rallied in the second half, but eventually fell on the road to No. 21 LSU on Jan. 8, 2022, 79-67. • Freshman guard Kennedy Chandler led Tennessee with 19 points. Junior guard Santiago Vescovi added 14, while junior forward Uros Plavsic had a season-high 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting along with seven rebounds off the bench. • Chandler scored 14 of his points in the first half on 5-for-7 shooting. • Sophomore Tari Eason led the way for LSU with 24 points. Second-chance points played a major role in the game, as LSU outscored Tennessee, 18-5. • After holding a seven-point lead at halftime, LSU was hot out of the gates in the second half, exploding for a 20-7 run that extended its lead to 20 points at 62-42. • Refusing to go away quietly, Tennessee responded by gradually chipping away at the Tigers’ lead, cutting it down to as few as five points at 71-66 on a Vescovi 3-pointer with three minutes remaining. • Following Vescovi’s three, two straight fast-break layups from LSU guard Brandon Murray and Eason quickly pushed the Tigers’ lead back to nine points, paving the way for LSU’s 12-point win. • After controlling the majority of the opening period, LSU took a 42-35 lead into the halftime break. The Tigers led for 11:20 of the first half, pulling in front by as many as 10. LSU’s 42 first-half points were Tennessee’s most given up to an opponent this season.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST LSU • Knoxville native Doug Roth blocked a school-record six shots vs. LSU on Jan. 11, 1989, lifting UT to a 100-96 win over the Tigers in Knoxville. • Anthony Richardson went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line, the best charity-stripe performance in school history, at LSU on Jan. 12, 1985. But the Vols fell that day by a score of 75-65. • Ron Widby set a UT single-game scoring record, (which stood for 20 years) against LSU on March 4, 1967, scoring 50 points on 19-of-39 shooting (both also single-game records) and 12-of-14 from the charity strip. UT won 87-60 in Knoxville. • After arriving in the United States and joining the team just seven days prior to the game, guard Santiago Vescovi started and scored 18 points on six 3-pointers, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists as the Vols fell to LSU in Knoxville on Jan. 4, 2020.
SECOND TIME’S A CHARM • Since 2018, Rick Barnes and his staff have guided the Volunteers to a 14-5 record in regular-season rematch games (SEC Tournament games not included).
SETBACKS ALL QUALITY LOSSES • Four of the five teams that have beaten Tennessee this season are ranked in this week’s AP Top 25. The fifth, Alabama, is among the top unranked vote-getters and just logged a top-15 win on Wednesday. • Those five teams’ average NET rating is 12.0 • Among the teams that have beaten UT, the worst current NET rating is No. 21 (Alabama).
VOLS SEVENTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS • Tennessee is logging steals at its highest rate of the Barnes era, averaging 10.5 per game. That ranks seventh among Division I teams. • Through Barnes’ first six seasons on Rocky Top, Tennessee averaged just 6.0 steals per game. And UT’s highest per-game average during that span was 7.3 steals per game last season (with two first-round NBA Draft picks manning the wings).
KC & ZIGGY SMOOTH CRIMINALS • Tennessee has a pair of true freshman guards who rank among KenPom’s national top 20 in steal percentage. • Zakai Zeigler ranks 11th nationally, logging a steal on 4.92 percent of opponents’ possessions while he is on the floor. Kennedy Chandler ranks 20th with a steal percentage of 4.64. • Chandler ranks second in the SEC and 11th among all Division I players with 2.44 steals per game. His 39 total steals rank 12th nationally. • During SEC play, Chandler and Zeigler account for 49.2 percent of Tennessee’s total steals (32 of 65).
UROS DOUBLING OUTPUT IN SEC PLAY • Junior big man Uros Plavsic entered this season averaging 1.9 points and 5.9 minutes per game. • Thanks to earning an enhanced role during the first six games of SEC play, Plavsic is now averaging career-bests in minutes (11.9 mpg), scoring (4.2 ppg), rebounding (3.1 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.596). • And his 53 rebounds through 17 games are more than his total through his first two seasons (32).
GAMES MPG PPG RPG Pre-conference games (11) 9.9 3.0 1.9 SEC games (6) 15.7 6.5 5.3
HUNTLEY-HATFIELD EARNS MORE BURN • Through more consistent and improved daily practice output, true freshman forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has earned a significant increase in minutes over Tennessee’s last two games. • Huntley-Hatfield logged 10 and 13 minutes off the bench at Kentucky and Vanderbilt, respectively. • At Rupp Arena, Huntley-Hatfield managed 11 points in just 10 second-half minutes. • At Vanderbilt, Huntley-Hatfield was the first man off the bench, and he played 10 first-half minutes.
ATLANTA — The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, in partnership with WeCOACH, is pleased to announce the class for the 19th “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. Tennessee graduate forward/center Keyen Green and graduate guard Jordan Walker are among that group.
Lady Vols Keyen Green & Jordan Walker / Credit: UT Athletics
Each student-athlete will participate in the two-day workshop on March 31 and April 1 during the WBCA Convention in Minneapolis.
The “So” program increases the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball, increases the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduces female basketball players to coaches and administrators, and raises awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women’s basketball.
“The WBCA community of coaches each year invests in young, aspiring coaches through the ‘So You Want To Be A Coach’ program,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “We thank WeCOACH for its partnership, which helps us make this highly successful program even better. We have high expectations for these graduating student-athletes and the future contributions they will make to the game of women’s basketball.”
“The WBCA has continued to make this program an elite experience for women basketball student-athletes aspiring to be coaches,” said Jan Whitbeck, senior director of events & branding for WeCOACH. “Our partnership with the ‘So’ program is critical in helping these young women have an entry point into the coaching profession. We congratulate the 2022 attendees and look forward to welcoming, developing and inspiring these future women coaches.”
Green is a 6-1 graduate transfer who came to UT from Liberty University prior to the 2020-21 season. She started four games last year before a knee injury ended her season. She has returned to the court in 2021-22 and provides the Lady Vols an important boost in the paint off the bench.
The Philadelphia, Pa., native is averaging 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds and is shooting 58 percent from the field. She is coming off a season- and SEC-high 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting vs. No. 19/20 Kentucky on Sunday, also grabbing seven rebounds and tallying three assists and a block in the 84-58 victory that moved No. 5/6 Tennessee to 17-1 overall and 6-0 in the SEC.
During her injury redshirt season a year ago, Green completed requirements for a master’s in agricultural leadership, education and communication. She then began work on a Ph.D. in leadership studies, becoming one of the very few Division I college student-athletes to tackle that curriculum while actively participating in a sport.
Walker, a 5-8 graduate transfer who also came to UT in 2020-21, played at Western Michigan for two seasons before joining Kellie Harper‘s squad. She started 13 of 25 contests a year ago in year one on Rocky Top and put up 5.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per outing.
This season, the native of Muskegon, Mich., has started all 18 games and is averaging 7.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists for a Lady Vol squad that is on an eight-game winning streak. She tallied a season-best 17 points and seven rebounds in UT’s road win at Virginia Tech on Dec. 5 and has scored in double figures on seven occasions.
Walker, who technically has one more season of eligibility due to a COVID-19 exception granted following the curtailing of the 2019-20 postseason, is pursuing a master’s in business administration (MBA) at UT with a concentration in entrepreneurship and innovation. She participated in an online internship with PepsiCo during the summer of 2021. Both Green and Walker were members of the 2021 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll.
“So” participants will learn about the administrative side of coaching, recruiting, how to get hired, skill development, the importance of knowing the rules, and how to balance work and life.
Qualified candidates must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or have graduated within the past year and must be nominated by their WBCA-member head coach. Each participant is selected based on her academics, contributions to women’s basketball on and off the court, professional resume´ and a written recommendation from their head coach.
Visit www.WBCA.org for more information on the “So” program.
About the WBCA For 40 years the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.
About WeCOACH Founded in 2011, WeCOACH has become the premier membership organization committed to recruiting, advancing, and retaining women coaches across all sports and levels. Previously known as the Alliance of Women Coaches, the organization reinvigorated its brand in August 2018. By providing a supportive and unified network, educational programs and resources, and access to in-person and digital resources, WeCOACH is changing the landscape for women coaches. Learn more at www.wecoachsports.org.
