Miranda Lambert‘s current single “If I Was A Cowboy” is working its way up the country airplay chart.
Talking about the track Miranda shares, “I wrote this song with my newfound friend Jesse Frazier. It was our first write together actually and we had a blast we, we went out to the west in our heads and I got to use all my favorite little quirky cowgirl terms, like hairpin trigger, for instance. So I’m really really excited about this song and it makes me bring out my inner cowgirl.”
For writing the song Miranda might have went out to the west in her head, but for the music video for “If I Was A Cowboy” she saddled up and really did her best impression of a cowboy.
Miranda says “We shot this video in a little old town in Texas with real cowboys.”
Check out Miranda Lambert riding high in the saddle and cowboying up in the music video for “If I Was A Cowboy.”
Right before the new year Maddie & Tae released the news that their upcoming tour was going to be postponed.
At the time the duo explained that Taylor Kerr has been put on bed rest out of a precaution due to her pregnancy.
Today (Wednesday January 12th), Tae took to social media to update her fans on what’s been happening.
“Today marks 1 month of being in the hospital. T went in for a routine check up at 24 weeks then we were immediately admitted and we have been here since. Our sweet girl is doing great, she is just a little more excited than she is ready to be in the world. This hasn’t been easy but we’re leaning on God and trusting His plan. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. – Tae and Josh”
Our thoughts are with Tae and Josh, and baby Kerr.
Maddie & Tae’s album, Through The Madness Vol.1 is still on track to arrive later this month on the 28th.
Maddie & Tae’s current single at country radio is “Madness.”
After being off the road during quarantine in 2020, Carly Pearce opened for Lady A on the What A Song Can Do tour this past summer.
Then in the Fall, Carly launched her own headlining run of shows for The 29 tour where she played songs from her latest album.
Now Carly is getting ready for the 2022 leg of The 29 tour which launches its 11-stop run March 10th in Chattanooga, TN before wrapping April 9th in Toronto, Canada.
Carly’s giving fans a look at what they can expect starting in March by sharing a behind the scenes video of what happened on the first leg of The 29 tour.
With Hannah Ellis opening for Carly Pearce on The 29 tour, we wonder if she might be out to cover for Ashley McBryde for this one, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
Mitchell Tenpenny is geared up and ready to go for the 2022 leg of his 2 Us It Did tour.
He shares, “Y’all don’t know what this means to me. Blows me away every night.”
Mitchell added “Seeing our fans scream back our songs & especially ‘Truth About You’ was so special on the first half of the tour. I’m so excited to extend this tour, and live it again. It’s going to be incredible having the talented Alana Springsteen out with us!”
The 2 Us It Did tour includes 13-stops, starting next Friday in Denver, Colorado and wraps 6 weeks later in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Another trek Mitchell is taking is up the country music airplay chart with Chris Young, as their song “At The End Of A Bar” is climbing inside the Top-40.
KNOXVILLE – A balanced offensive effort, coupled with stout defense, led the No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers past South Carolina, 66-46, Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Charleston, South Carolina, native Josiah-Jordan James provided the spark for Tennessee (11-4, 2-2 SEC), sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the first half. That gave the Vols’ offense confidence and momentum to start the second period. James finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double and first of the season. He also had a pair of assists, one block and a steal.
Zakai Zeigler brought an energetic presence to the floor when he checked in. The freshman guard logged the Volunteers’ first bucket of the game and posted four points, a rebound, an assist and two steals his first rotation in the game. Zeigler finished the game with 11 points, four steals and four assists.
Vols G/F Josiah-Jordan James / Credit: UT Athletics
In total, four Vols scored in double figures, as Santiago Vescovi led the team with 14 points. John Fulkerson added 10 and blocked two shots. Fulkerson now sits just eight points shy of 1,000 for his career.
South Carolina (10-5, 1-2 SEC) was led by James Reese V, who notched 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Gamecocks were stifled in the paint as the Volunteers did not allow either starting forward for Carolina to make a field goal. South Carolina was only 11-of-30 (36.7 percent) on 2-point field-goal attempts, as the Vols made it tough to get shots up around the rim.
The offenses battled in the first half, both jockeying to sustain a lead. As the first period wound to a close, 3-pointers from Zeigler and Kennedy Chandler helped the Big Orange build a lead, but it was James’ trey as the buzzer sounded that extended Tennessee’s lead to a 30-24 lead, and the Vols would never look back.
The Vols rode the offensive momentum to start the second half, starting on a 9-2 run for the first four and a half minutes. The steadfast defense Tennessee has boasted all season held the Gamecocks to 8-of-25 (32 percent) shooting from the floor after the break. UT caused 12 turnovers in the first half, seven coming on steals, and carried that success over to the second half, forcing 11 more turnovers.
VOLS CONTINUING TO CREATE TAKEAWAYS: Tennessee entered Tuesday’s game ranked seventh in the nation in steals per game, and with 11 steals during the win over South Carolina, the Vols recorded their ninth game of double-digit steals this season.
OWNING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: Tennessee pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, its eighth consecutive game with 10 or more.
HARD TO SCORE: Tennessee held South Carolina to just 0.667 points per possession on Tuesday—the second-lowest mark by any of Tennessee’s opponents this season. It stands as the ninth time this season that Tennessee has held its opponent below one point per possession.
UP NEXT: Tennessee heads north to Lexington, Kentucky, for a Saturday matchup against the 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
In was January of 1972 that Charley Pride hit number-one with his 8th chart topper, and the song that would become most identified with the singer, “Kiss An Angel Good Morning.”
Growing up Jimmie Allen knew that he wanted to be a singer…and not just any genre, he wanted to be a country singer.
That’s when Jimmie’s dad did something that had a major impact on Jimmie – he introduced his son to the Charley’s music.
Jimmie recalls the moment he was talking to his dad, “I told him I wanted to get into music, and he told me there’s somebody you need to know. And he put me onto Charley Pride. When I heard him, I was like, ‘Alright cool, he’s got a good voice, Dad, I like his voice.’ No, you need to see what he looks like. He showed me his picture, and I was like, ‘Whoa okay I get it now’.”
When that happened, little did Jimmie know that not only would he grow up to be a country music singer, but he’d also befriend the music legend and even present him with Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 CMA Awards.
At the time Jimmie Allen said “To be able to present Charley Pride with the award and stand here next to him and have a song with him…You imagine one of the biggest dreams you have and accomplishing that and that happened for me tonight.”
Jimmie shared the most impactful impression that was left on him as a child after learning about Charley Pride, “There was finally someone who looked like me in every genre that I knew about .”
Jimmie Allen is now leaving his mark for future singers to follow as he’s currently climbing the airplay chart with country music veteran Brad Paisley and their song “Freedom Was A Highway.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After a year off from playing one another, No. 5/6 Tennessee (15-1/4-0 SEC) and Vanderbilt (10-6/1-1 SEC) rekindle an old rivalry in Nashville on Thursday night.
The Lady Vols and Commodores will meet for the 85th time, tipping off at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET) at Memorial Gymnasium.
This will mark UT’s highest ranking entering this game since coming in at No. 4/4 and defeating an unranked Vandy squad, 65-57, in Nashville on Feb. 13, 2011.
Lady Vols / Credit: UT Athletics
After VU suspended its season three games into the SEC schedule in 2020-21 due to injuries and the spread of COVID-19, the programs failed to meet on the hardwood for the first time since the 1980-81 campaign. The 2021-22 season brings a brand new look to the rivalry, as former Lady Vol standout Kellie Harper, who is in her third year leading her alma mater, meets first-year Vandy skipper Shea Ralph, a UConn alum, for the very first time as head coaches.
The duo’s careers at UT and UConn overlapped from 1996-97 to 1998-99, with Harper (then known as Kellie Jolly) helping lead UT to the second and third of three-straight NCAA titles in 1997 and 1998, while Ralph contributed to a UConn crown in 1999-2000 after Harper had graduated. Harper was 4-2 as a player vs. UConn, including 3-1 in games when both were on the rosters of the respective programs.
The former UT point guard leads her team into Thursday’s match-up as the league’s only unbeaten team through four games. The Lady Vols take a six-game winning streak into the contest and enter with a five-game road victory string that began last season on Feb. 25 at Missouri. It’s the longest road spree since UT won five in a row during the 2014-15 season.
UT is coming off Sunday’s 70-58 triumph over Ole Miss in Oxford (13-2/1-1 SEC), in which the Big Orange led by as many as 20 in ending a 13-game Rebel winning streak. It marked the 13th time in 16 games that Tennessee held its opponent to 60 points or fewer, the 16th time no team has shot better than 36 percent from the field and the 15th time in 16 contests UT has out-rebounded its foe.
Vandy is coming off a 70-63 setback at Mississippi State on Sunday in Starkville, during which a 25-17 Bulldog fourth-quarter was the difference in snapping the Commodores’ five-game win streak. A major key to that outcome was MSU turning 20 VU turnovers into 31 points on the afternoon.
Comparing schedules, UT and Vandy have four common foes, with each team defeating Arkansas, Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech, with the Lady Vols taking care of Kansas (68-58) on Nov. 26 at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout and the Commodores falling to the Jayhawks in Lawrence, 74-67, on Dec. 5.
VANDERBILT BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE COVID-19 POLICY
At this time, all attendees at Memorial Gymnasium ages 12 and older will have the option to present either proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test administered within 72 hours prior to the event OR proof of full COVID-19 vaccination to enter.
A photo on a cell phone, physical vaccination card or print-out are acceptable forms of verification.
Vanderbilt allows various health apps as proof of a negative test or vaccinations, such as MyHealthAtVanderbilt and the Clear app.
Antibody tests and at-home tests ARE NOT currently acceptable forms of proof.
Currently, children ages 11 years and younger are not required to do so.
Attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Eric Frede (play-by-play) and LVFL Tamika Catchings (analyst) will have the call for the SEC Network broadcast.
All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network radio stations and by audio stream, with Mickey Dearstone behind the microphone. Now calling the action for his 23rd season, Dearstone is joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
SiriusXM Ch. SEC Radio (374) will pick up the call.
A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on Vol Network Affiliates.
Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
UT CLIMBS INTO AP TOP FIVE THIS WEEK
The Lady Vols are ranked at season highs of No. 5 and 6 in the Jan. 10 and 11 AP and USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Polls, respectively.
That is the highest combination of rankings since the Lady Vols were No. 4/5 in the Nov. 23 and 24 polls of 2015.
UT began that season at No. 4 in each poll and stayed there for two more weeks in the AP Top 25 but was relegated to No. 5 in the coaches poll the following two polling periods.
UT VS. IN-STATE FOES
The Tennessee women are 255-61-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State, and Kellie Harper is 10-0 in those match-ups in her third season on Rocky Top.
The Lady Vols are 3-0 this season (wins vs. Tenn. Tech, ETSU and Chattanooga) and were 3-0 in 2020-21, with wins over ETSU, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee, with two games on the schedule vs. Vanderbilt (home and away) canceled.
UT has won 10 in a row over schools from within the state border and 26 of the last 27, with the lone setback during that run being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Feb. 28, 2019.
ABOUT THE LADY VOLS
The Lady Vols are one of the nation’s biggest stories of 2021-22, opening up at 15-1, sitting atop the SEC standings and climbing to No. 5 in the AP Poll against one of the NCAA’s toughest schedules despite losing returning starter Marta Suárez for the season to injuries and playing without top returning scorer Rae Burrell for 12 games (injury) and this year’s leading scorer and rebounder Jordan Horston for three (injury/illness).
Tennessee picked up its third victory over a ranked team this season on Jan. 6, as the Lady Vols rolled past No. 25/23 Texas A&M in Knoxville, 73-45. UT, which carded four wins over ranked foes last season, only had one ranked win at that point a year ago.
The Big Orange women also have victories over No. 23/22 South Florida (52-49) and No. 12/21 Texas (74-70 OT) to their credit and beat an RV/RV Virginia Tech squad, 64-58, all without Rae Burrell playing.
Tennessee is led by Jordan Horston, a 6-2 junior guard, who paces the team in scoring (15.5 ppg.), rebounding (9.6) and assists (3.8 apg.) in a breakout season.
Horston is tied for the team lead with seven double-doubles and has topped UT in scoring eight times, including double-doubles the last two games.
Tamari Key, a 6-6 junior center, is putting up 10.4 ppg. and 8.9 rpg. to go along with 4.1 bpg. She had a triple-double of 10 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks in UT’s 74-70 OT victory over No. 12/21 Texas.
Key is tied for the team lead with seven double-doubles thus far and has scored in double figures in eight of her last 11 games for the best stretch of her career. She leads the nation in blocked shots (65) and blocks per game (4.06) and is a block shy from entering UT’s single-season top 10 for the third time.
Alexus Dye, a 6-0 forward, is third among active UT players in scoring at 10.3 ppg. She is third in rebounding at 8.1 rpg and has three double-doubles, including a 13/10 effort vs. Arkansas last Sunday. She has scored in double figures in five of the past seven games.
Freshman guard/forward Sara Puckett is UT’s fourth-leading scorer. She is putting up 7.8 ppg. and is shooting 49.5 percent from the field, 36.6 percent on threes and 77.8 percent on free throws and has scored in double figures five times. She got her first career starts vs. UTC and Alabama during Jordan Horston’s absence because of illness.
Senior Rae Burrell (6.3 ppg.) has seen action the past three games (12/17/12 minutes) after missing the previous 12 contests due to a leg injury suffered in the opener vs. Southern Illinois. During that stretch, she had a best of nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes vs. No. 25/23 Texas A&M on Jan.6. She also hit a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first quarter vs. the Aggies.
Sophomore Tess Darby was one of three Lady Vols in double figures vs. Ole Miss, draining three of six three-point attempts and all four free-throw tries to tally a career-best 13 points vs. the Rebels. It was her third game in double figures this season.
Graduate forward/center Keyen Green is UT’s sixth player averaging better than 7.0 ppg., contributing 7.1 ppg. and 3.1 rpg. and shooting 59.4 ppg. off the bench.
TENNESSEE NOTES DURING SEC PLAY
Kellie Harper‘s squad is the only remaining undefeated team in league play, standing at 4-0 and joins South Carolina (also 15-1) as the SEC teams with the best overall records.
UT is scoring 68.8 ppg. and allowing 52.5. ppg., while shooting 42.8 percent from the field and holding opponents to only 28.3 percent.
Tennessee is out-rebounding SEC teams, 49.5 to 36.0 for +13.5.
The Lady Vols have limited foes to shooting only 18.8 percent from the three-point arc, including games vs. noted three-ball teams Arkansas and Texas A&M.
Jordan Horston (16.7 ppg., 10.3 rpg. and 3.7 apg.), Tamari Key (11.3 ppg., 7.8 rpg. and 5.5 bpg.) and Alexus Dye (10.5 ppg., 7.0 rpg.) have led UT in its first four conference games.
Jordan Walker (9.5 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 4.5 apg.) are right behind them. Walker is hitting 81.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Also worth nothing, Tess Darby (7.0 ppg.) is eight of 18 on threes (44.4) during league play, while Keyen Green (7.0 ppg.) is hitting 85.7 percent of her field goal attempts.
SIGNIFICANT OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
Kellie Harper‘s squad has shown consistent dominance on defense and in rebounding all season. The team is morphing into a much better offensive unit as well.
Tennessee is averaging 78.1 ppg. and shooting 43.8 percent from the field over the past eight games, compared to 65.2 ppg. and 41.1 over the first eight.
UT’s free-throw percentage is improved from 56.9 to 64.1.
The Lady Vols’ assists/turnovers numbers were 98/145 the first eight contests and are 149/130 over the past eight.
Three-point shooting is up as well, from 25.9 to 30.8.
LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
No. 7/8 Tennessee picked up a 70-58 win on Sunday in The Pavilion at Ole Miss, ending the No. RV/RV Rebels’ 13-game win streak.
Now 15-1 on the season, the 2021-22 squad is making UT’s best start since 2017-18 when it went 15-0. With four straight SEC wins, it’s the Lady Vols’ hottest start to conference play since beginning 13-0 in 2014-15 en route to a 15-1 SEC regular-season title.
Junior Jordan Horston was the top scorer for the Lady Vols (15-1, 4-0 SEC), turning in a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Graduate Alexus Dye was also a top producer with 17, while sophomore Tess Darby scored a career-high 13 points.
Ole Miss (13-2, 1-1 SEC) was led by Shakira Austin who finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. Lashonda Monk was also in double figures with 11.
NOTABLES FROM OUR LAST GAME
DOUBLE-DOUBLES CONTINUE: Jordan Horston recorded her seventh double-double of the season against UM on Sunday. Tennessee has logged 18 double-doubles on the season and at least one Lady Vol has managed a double-double in 15 of 16 games so far.
TESS FROM LONG RANGE: Tess Darby went three of six from behind the arc against the Rebels. She has now hit 24 treys on the season, nine of which have come during SEC play. She is averaging 35.3 from distance on the season and is shooting 44.4 percent in conference games.
DARBY’S FREE THROW DEBUT: Sophomore Tess Darby went a perfect four of four from the free-throw line against Ole Miss. Prior to this contest she had never shot a free throw in a collegiate game, making her season and career average from the charity stripe 100 percent.
KEEPING OPPONENTS IN CHECK: The Rebels entered today’s contest with a field goal percentage of 43.9 percent but were held to just 33.9 percent shooting. The Lady Vols’ defense has kept all 16 opponents at 36 percent shooting or below this season, and through four SEC games Tennessee is holding opponents to just 28.3 percent from the floor.
UP NEXT: WE BACK PAT GAME VS. UK
The Lady Vols will be back in action at home on Sunday, welcoming #19/20 Kentucky to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 3 p.m. ET contest on ESPN.
The contest is Tennessee’s “We Back Pat” game as part of the SEC’s week-long initiative to create awareness about the Pat Summitt Foundation and its efforts in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
UT-VANDERBILT SERIES NOTES
The Lady Vols are 34-1 vs. the Commodores in Knoxville, 30-7 Nashville and 10-2 at neutral sites, with those being postseason games.
UT has won 12 of the past 13 games in the series and the last six times in Nashville.
These squads have been to overtime on one occasion, with Tennessee seizing a 92-79 decision in Nashville on Jan. 19, 1997.
Including that OT game in ’97, Kellie (Jolly) Harper was 9-0 vs. VU as a Lady Vol point guard, and she is 2-0 as head coach at Tennessee.
Harper was 0-1 vs. VU as head coach at Western Carolina and 1-1 while at NC State.
ABOUT VANDERBILT
The Commodores are led by senior forward Brinae Alexander (14.0 ppg., 24 3FGs) and sophomore guard Iyana Moore (11.8 ppg., 36 3FGs).
Vandy has held opponents to 39.1 percent shooting and only 56.6 points per game.
VU entered the year with two returning starters and eight returning letterwinners, but the Commodores shut down their 2020-21 season after beginning the SEC slate 0-3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a bevy of injuries.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH
Vanderbilt is led by first-year head coach Shea Ralph.
Ralph, a UConn alum, spent 13 seasons on the staff of the Huskies. She also carded five years as an assistant at Pitt from 2003-08 between her playing career and return to Storrs as a coach.
LAST TIME VANDY PLAYED
Vanderbilt was outlasted down the stretch by Mississippi State on Sunday, falling 70-63 inside Humphrey Coliseum.
The Commodores (10-6, 1-1 SEC) contested the Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1 SEC) all game long, entering halftime only down, 28-27, before a 25-17 fourth quarter tipped the scales in MSU’s favor.
The duo of Demi Washington and Iyana Moore combined for 34 points. Moore led the way for the Commodores with 20 points, while Washington’s third career double-double was highlighted by 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mississippi State’s Anastasia Hayes led all scorers on the afternoon with 31 points.
WHEN UT AND VU LAST MET
Tennessee held off in-state rival Vanderbilt on Feb. 23, 2020, winning in Thompson-Boling Arena, 67-63.
The teams did not meet during the 2020-21 campaign after Vanderbilt discontinued its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and injuries.
Junior forward Rennia Davis led Tennessee (18-9, 8-6 SEC), posting a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Jordan Horston was close behind with 16 points, while sophomore forward Rae Burrell finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Chelsie Hall and Mariella Fasoula were the high scorers for Vanderbilt (13-14, 3-11 SEC) with 20 and 18, respectively.
On Josiah-Jordan James’ 3-point shooting… “What we want him to do is to take the shots he takes in practice. That is what we want. He does shoot it at a very high percentage. He really does. But I think what happens when you are struggling, and not just Josiah it could be any player anywhere. When you come out and like he hit his first shot the other night, it was a perfect shot in the rhythm of what we wanted. When you struggle like he has, it is just natural to think, ‘okay I want to see if I can make another one.’ He normally takes wide open shots but the second one he shot was in transition and he was not set. He was anxious, there was no doubt he was. We talked about it with him and we try to tell him. There is a fine line where you go and I said this the other day after the game. We were very tight in the Mississippi game. We went somewhere maybe over the other way where have to find that balance still. That is where players individually have to find a balance. The one thing we know is that we don’t think he is hunting shots to do that. I really don’t. We want those shots to come into flow. When you get the penetration that we can get sometimes with our guards, those opportunities are going to be there. We have had a lot of uncontested shots that we did not make. Some of those uncontested shots we were not set the way we should have been set. That has something to do with it. It still goes back to practicing the shot that we practice at game speed, game shots. But I get it when players are competitive they are struggling to score. One of the hardest things to do as a player is think, ‘I have to score, I have to make shots.’ That is really difficult. I think that when you get to that point the most important thing is to let it go and start thinking about what can I do to help my teammates? And my teammates need to help me. I think that it is a mindset that you have to get to. I can tell you we have full confidence in our team and those guys. We are 10-4 and have lost four games to top-25 teams, two of them on the road in the league. It is hard to win a league game but you want to win them all. We need Josiah to impact the game in ways. We want him to take his shots but when we are playing really good basketball he is really doing a lot of the little things to impact the game. That is what we need from him consistently, really from all the guys that are not making shots. We are going to make shots, I believe that, I really do. But even if not we will continue to get better defensively and it may be ugly but have a chance to win.”
Vols HC Rick Barnes / Credit: UT Athletics
On what he hasn’t seen from Brandon Huntley-Hatfield since after the Alabama game… “Consistency. We have told Brandon and his teammates have told him that we need him to really come and be a force. We need him to want to impact the game when he comes in and not just try and stay in the game by not making mistakes. We do not care if he makes mistakes if he does it going at the speed and playing at the speed we want. Throwing his body around like Saturday. I thought the best play of the game Saturday was when the player from LSU went in and dunked the ball and Olivier (Nkamhoua) went up and challenged it. And then the very next play, Olivier went back and blocked the shot. That to me is what it is about. We need that. That is the kind of play we need from Brandon, Uros (Plavsic), John (Fulkerson), and any of our front-line guys. Yves Pons would get dunked on just to decide he would make something happen. That is what we need from Brandon. We need that kind of energy. That is what we need more than anything else. We have talked to him about it and he is young. I do think he is trying and this is all new to him. He will tell you that after each game, ‘Man, that game is faster than you think’. When you are sitting there and sitting up close. I still think that Brandon is going to be fine, but we need him to come in and throw himself around and bring energy. We need all of the guys off the bench to come in and do what Jahmai Mashack does. That is what we need, guys that bring that kind of energy. If we can get that it will take us to another level.”
On encouragement from the progress seen out of Olivier Nkamhoua… “Really am. I told you guys after the Ole Miss game, I saw him in a way that I have never seen him before. I saw it again Saturday at LSU. Where you hope now that he has gotten lost in it. I think one he would tell you it has been a hard ride for him. He is finally getting a chance to play in big moments and big minutes. That is what is encouraging to me, when I looked out there the other day when we closed the game. You had two freshmen, we had a freshman guard who has never been in it who is learning as he goes. Olivier is in a new role that he is starting to really embrace and find it. And Uros (Plavsic) and those guys played their hearts out the other day. Santi, no one goes at it any harder than him. But we just need everybody. Jahmai did it the other day. He came into the game with the energy he brought, we need that. We need it from everybody.”
On South Carolina… “It’s exactly what’d you’d expect. They’ll play fast in transition, they’re going to be physical, they’re going to rebound. It’s exactly what’d you’d expect from watching and coaching against Frank Martin for all these years. You know it’s going to be a battle.”
On what he believes his Tennessee team does well other than defense… “I think guys are getting better. We’ve got to get consistent, there is no doubt about that. I do think that the shooting woes can play into guys’ heads. They can’t evaluate themselves on that. I am convinced—and I’ve always believed this—if you get lost in the game, you get lost with your teammates (good things will happen). When you work really hard for years on years, you think, ‘Hey, this is going to be a great year because I’ve gotten better.’ Then all at once, it’s just not going well.
“No one has done a better job for us than Victor Bailey Jr. If you ask anyone on our team who they want to see succeed, it’d be VJ Bailey, because that guy works. He has struggled making shots, but he’s gotten better. We had a couple terrific block outs Saturday—the way we want to do it, and he had two of them. If you ask the guys on the team, they pick one guy on the team they really want to see do well they’d say VJ Bailey. The way he goes about his business… I don’t think he’s worried about minutes. I think he’s a guy, when he’s not playing, he’s pulling as hard as he can for his teammates to do well. He wants to go in the game, and he wants to help us win. That’s the honest truth from him. The players respect him for that, because they know how hard he works.
“We have a standard that guys set here a couple of years ago. We can’t let up on that standard. You think about our team… the only guy who’s been here that was part of (establishing) that standard was John Fulkerson. You think about how well he played against Arizona. (Then), over the break he got sick, so we went to Alabama without him and Kennedy Chandler. Then, we come back, and he has a really, really tough time against Ole Miss, and we were shocked. We hadn’t seen any of that in practice. And so after that game, I was talking with (associate head coach) Michael Schwartz, and said I want you to talk to John (Fulkerson), maybe it will help him if we bring him off the bench. I don’t know if he has lingering effects here from (having) COVID, because we hadn’t seen it in practice. John (Fulkerson) said to Mike (Schwartz), ‘I think I’m fine.’ Then, he didn’t play well Saturday where he didn’t have the energy. He wants to do well. He’s been here… he wants to see this happen, but my comment after the game about him was that look, if he is sick, he does need to let us know that so that we can help him get back where he needs to be. We need John (Fulkerson) playing at the level that we saw against Arizona. He’s been a huge part of so much of what we’ve done here. We talked about it yesterday again as a team. We have to know what guys are feeling, especially this time of year where we are, with the COVID and everything. If you’re not feeling well—you don’t have the energy—we’ve got to know that. We can adjust, we can make some changes to maybe help a little bit here and there. There’s a standard that we have that we expect everybody to play up to. Are we going to struggle? Everybody struggles. You guys cover us, you know us better than anybody else, We will struggle at times. We can still win games when we struggle. A lot of the things that we wanted to see Saturday, some of it we got, some of it we didn’t. “LSU is a good basketball team. Texas Tech is a good basketball team. Alabama is a good basketball team. Villanova is a good basketball team. The fact is, we’re not going to drop our standard at all. I don’t care if we’re shooting the ball well. We’re going to continue to find a way to try and win basketball games. I truly believe this group of guys… one, they like each other, they care about each other, they want to do well. I think if it were up to them, they’d play everybody 40 minutes a night, but we can’t do that, so we need consistency out of everybody. We haven’t gotten to the point yet where we know who we can really rely on. That affects us on the offensive end more than the defensive end. It’s pretty simple defensively. We know what teams are going to do, and we know how we’re supposed to guard it. Offensively, it’s more instinctive, making decisions on the fly. You can’t coach it the same way you coach defense. I do think we’ve got better offensive players than some of the numbers show. I can tell you I know that because if you were going strictly by the numbers, you wouldn’t see our guys being guarded as tightly as they are. So, (opposing) coaches know they’re capable of making those shots. Think about it… this team has made 17 3-pointers in a game. It’s a mindset that we’ve got to get these guys to understand. Most of them are going through (this) for the first time We’re going to work through it. We still have a lot of basketball left. Every goal that we have in front of us is still there. We can get it. I think the key to the whole thing is today. Don’t be thinking weeks down the road, don’t be thinking about what’s up at the end of the year. Just think about, “Today, can we get better today?’ Then, tomorrow, go out and play as hard as we can and the best we can be against South Carolina.”
On if he had a conversation with John Fulkerson after the LSU game… “I will never say a thing to anybody else that I haven’t already said to my team ever. If anybody thinks I’m going to use the media to get a message to my players, then they are nuts if they think that’s going to happen. I would never do that. I’m going to be as honest and as transparent as I can be, because I do know that people love our basketball team. They want to know what’s going on with it. I don’t know how anybody else took it, but (Fulkerson) knew exactly where I was coming from. He had a tough time a year ago with COVID when he went through it. John knows that we need him. We all appreciate what he’s done, but I also know that if you’re not feeling well and you want to fight through it, it can also have a reverse effect on you where you’re like, ‘Man, I’m trying to do this, but I can’t.’ John has never been one to make excuses either. He’s not a guy that does that. If anybody thinks that I would go somewhere and tell somebody else that first, you’re way off.”
On if the team thinks too much… “I think there’s outside pressures, I do. I’m not denying that. There’s a lot of people in peoples’ ears at times talking to them, and I think that’s part of it as we go through it and coach it. You have to keep a pulse on the team. I think this team really wants to be good. I think players want to play. We can sit here and say, ‘We’re going to play the hot hand.’ The other night, we were searching to find someone to go into the game and affect the game in a good way. Think about it, Jahmai Mashack did that against Ole Miss. We said, ‘Hey man, you have to go in and change the rhythm of this game with your rebounding.’ He did that. The other night, he went in and did what he did. He’s making some things happen. I know they all want to do well individually. I know they all have their individual goals. This is a good group of guys. I can sit here and talk about the lack of experience in some ways, but I’m not going to do that because we think that we should be undefeated. I wouldn’t want that any other way. Is it realistic thinking like that? I would say probably not. When a game is over with, and you lose it, you go back and scrub it out and think hypothetically, ‘If we would have done this, this, or this…’ The other team has other problems they deal with too. Our team is not going to let anything on the outside affect them. If they do, that’s stuff we’ll address. I think when you’re struggling to shoot the ball you can be uptight. The question is, how do you get out of it? The answer to that is you quit worrying about anything except what you can control. Just know if you get lost in the game, that will take care of itself.”
On if Kennedy Chandler is getting more comfortable… “I think he’s learning that the way he played in high school is different from this. This is a different game. I’ve told him that. I’ve said, ‘You know what, your high school game is not going to work here. Your college game is not going to work at the next level.’ It’s all about continuing to learn every single day and understanding where you’re really effective and understanding what you need to do”. I thought he had some spurts that him, myself, and Zakai (Zeigler) went back over the offensive side again last night. We talked about what the good things were. They talked to me about what they were thinking right here and right there. They’re learning. You think about it, you’ve got two freshman guards. Playing that position is hard. You go back and think about how Zakai played at Alabama when he was thrust out there, he did a terrific job. It was his first time with him on the road, and Kennedy did a great job. We can get so much better. That’s what makes it exciting for me and them. I think they realize it too.”
