Lauren Alaina‘s new single at country radio is the title track to her EP that she released last year.
When Lauren co-wrote “Getting Over Him” with Emily Weisband and Paul DiGiovanni she knew right away who should join her on the track — her friend, Jon Pardi.
Lauren shares the story behind the song here…
Check out the lyric video for Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi’s “Getting Over Him” right here…
Photo Credit: Katie Kauss
Cody Johnson wrote 2 songs on his current album, Ain’t Nothin’ To It, one of which is “Dear Rodeo.”
Cody shares, “‘Dear Rodeo’ was probably one of the easiest and hardest songs ever to write. Easiest, meaning that it almost wrote itself but it’s one of the hardest I’ve ever written because it was very autobiographical and it addressed things in my life that I have never addressed before.”
Cody Johnson walked away from the life of rodeo to become a country music singer, but in leaving the sport, he always felt like something was unresolved. Now in his new profession, he never really addressed the change in his life until one a day a friend encouraged him to write a song about it. When Cody sat down with his co-writer on “Dear Rodeo,” he described the leaving as a divorce…so, with the lyrics, they wrote a letter to rodeo the same way someone would write a letter to a significant other during the process of separation.
Cody says, “One thing that my buddy Scott Gunner, who I feel like knows me better sometimes than I do musically, one thing he said I never addressed as a songwriter was the open wound of not chasing a buckle…not rodeoing…trying to make a living out of it. I still get to ranch rodeo, and team rope, and ride cutting horses and do my cowboy thing. But it’s not the same, and I got a lot of friends who are world champions and second up world champions. I guess to me, it felt like a divorce when I quit rodeoing. It felt like it was something I didn’t want to talk about, and Scott encouraged me to write about this, and myself and Dan Couch sat down, and when I said that it felt like a divorce, Dan said ‘Well, why don’t we write a letter to her…the sport of rodeoing, talk to her like she’s a woman.’ And I feel like when you translate it like that, that’s something everyone can relate to.”
Cody says that there’s lessons he carries over from his rodeo days to his music making career that help him face difficult times, ““Well, I think when you rodeo, you have to have a degree of…an ability to deal with fear…physical fear, you know, getting hurt. Once you’ve accomplished how to compartmentalize that, you can take that fear and use it as a fuel for your fire. It gives you a sense of work ethic, and it gives you a sense of…when you can look at the odds stacked against you…which they have been in my music career, most of my career, you look at those odds stacked against you, and you just smile and go ‘bring it on buddy.’ I think that’s 100% where it comes from…is rodeo.”
Now, Cody is sharing a clip from his upcoming documentary that tells the tale of his rodeo life…
Cody released a special version of “Dear Rodeo” with another country star who gave up that life to have a singing career…Reba McEntire.
Reba shares, “It was a thrill to get to sing ‘Dear Rodeo’ with Cody because we’re both from the rodeo world. I grew up in a rodeo family. I’m a third generation rodeo brat, so it means a lot to me because I did leave rodeo for being in the country music business…I sure miss it.”
Check out the music video with Cody Johnson and Reba McEntire singing “Dear Rodeo”…
Photo Courtesy of Warner Music Nashville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Monday afternoon saw the bats come alive for the No. RV/23/24 Tennessee softball team as they earned a pair of wins over Ohio (0-2) in Sherri Parker Lee Stadium after outhitting the Bobcats 20-7.
UT (7-1) collected six home runs throughout the doubleheader with graduate senior Cailin Hannon (3-for-6) and sophomore Kiki Milloy (3-for-5) recording a pair of home runs a piece.
TENNESSEE 7, OHIO 1
Freshman Bailey McCachren, making her third career start, and junior Samantha Bender combined for a complete game effort as the Lady Vols dominated the opening game of the day, 7-1.
The pitching duo surrendered just one run on a pair of hits while the offense was electric, recording four home runs on six hits. It marked the second time this season that the Orange and White collected four hits in an outing, which ties for seventh in program history. It is the seventeenth time in the program’s 26 seasons the feat was met.
The Lady Vols’ bats came alive in the second inning, blasting a pair of home runs to right field. Milloy opened scoring with a long shot that was followed by Hannon who went yard two batters later, which gave UT a 2-0 lead. It was the third dinger of the season for each of the outfielders.
After walking to open the third, junior Kaitlin Parsons found her way around the bases stealing second and reaching the hot corner on a wild pitch. Senior Amanda Ayala (3-for-8) recorded the third Big Orange home run of game 1 with a blast to center field to drive in Parsons and give UT a 4-0 lead.
The third inning was the Lady Vols most lucrative of the afternoon starter and continued on with a walk from sophomore Madison Webber (1-for-2) and a single from Milloy. Senior Ivy Davis (3-for-6), who had a brilliant day on defense, hit a double to center field to drive in Webber and Milloy as Tennessee closed the third inning with a 6-0 lead over the Bobcats.
Ohio responded to UT’s third-inning eruption as Katie Yun led the fourth inning off with a solo shot, however the Bobcats couldn’t get much going and left a runner on base to end the top of the fourth, cutting the UT lead to 6-1.
Bender entered the game in the top of the fifth inning with no outs and runners on first and second. Bender collected three strikeouts and escaped the jam, maintaining UT’s 6-1 lead.
Leading off the bottom of the fifth, senior Chelsea Seggern (3-for-6) blasted the fourth home run of the game, her first of the season, to give UT a lasting 7-1 lead and force Ohio to make a change on the mound with Holly Brehm.
UT defense turned in a 6-4-3 double play to end the game to earn their sixth win of the season.
McCachren picked up her third win of the year, giving up two hits, one run and two walks. She retired four at the plate. Bender was credited with the save striking out three and giving up two walks in 3.0 innings.
TENNESSEE 11, OHIO 2
Sophomore Callie Turner got the starting nod for the second matchup between UT and Ohio. The Land O’Lakes, Fla., product struck out three batters and gave up just one walk in the Lady Vols 11-2 dismantling of the Bobcats in five innings.
The UT offense was unstoppable in the second outing, collecting a season-high 14 hits and a pair of home runs.
Ohio struck first in the second game of the doubleheader as Molly Troutman hit a double down the right field line to open scoring, giving Ohio an early one-run advantage.
The Bobcat’s lead was shortlived as the Lady Vols returned to form in the bottom of the second. To lead off, Davis beat the throw from Ohio’s shortstop to get the single, which was her first hit that didn’t go for extra bases. Hannon hit a tough ball back to the pitcher to give sophomore Amanda Curran (2-for-3), who made her first collegiate start in the DP spot, runners on first and second with no outs. Davis was driven home to tie the game on a 1-1 double to center field from Curran. Kaitlin Parsons (2-for-4) singled in Hannon to jump ahead 2-1, before being put out on a oddly-ruled play by the umpires, along with Curran, during what was scored a fielder’s choice for Ayala. Ayala made her way home before the inning concluded to move UT ahead 3-1.
As critical as the second inning was, it was the fourth that became the story. Back-to-back singles from Parsons and Ayala set the table for the ensuing scoring frenzy. Seggern brought Parsons home on the ground out and Ayala advanced to third.
Junior catcher Ally Shipman (0-for-6) reached on fielder’s choice, but a confused Ohio defense allowed Ayala to score without a challenge. Webber, who recorded a two-RBI double Sunday against Miami (OH), drew a full-count walk to set things up for Milloy. The Woodinville, Wash., native clobbered a three-RBI no-doubter to centerfield to give the Lady Vos a 9-2 lead.
Hannon, who has gone yard in four of UT’s last five outings, recorded her second round-tripper of the day and the Lady Vols sixth of the half. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Hannon had a combined four home runs.
Curran stamped the inning with a run from Ayala’s double to provide the final margin and put UT in run-rule territory.
Up Next: The Lady Vols host Illinois State on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. ET.
-UT Athletics
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 25 Tennessee basketball team hits the road for a Wednesday night encounter with in-state foe, Vanderbilt. Tipoff from Memorial Gym is slated for 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Fans can catch Wednesday’s game on SEC Netowrk and online or on any mobile device through WatchESPN on the ESPN App. WatchESPN can be accessed online at espn.com/watch. Mike Morgan and Debbie Antonelli will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp describing the action.
Last time out, Tennessee fell at home to Kentucky, 70-55. The Vols were led in scoring for the second consecutive game by junior Victor Bailey Jr. who poured in 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and a 4-of-8 mark from 3-point range.
A victory on Wednesday will mark Tennessee’s fifth consecutive win inside Memorial Gym and would keep every current Vol undefeated when this series is contested in Nashville.
Up next, the Orange & White will stay on the road for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Auburn. Tipoff from Auburn Arena is slated for Noon ET on ESPN or ESPN2.
THE SERIES
• Tennessee leads its all-time series with Vanderbilt, 125-75, dating to 1922.
• The programs are meeting for the 201st time Wednesday. Longtime Tennessee athletic trainer Chad Newman has been on the Vols’ bench for 25 percent of those games. Wednesday marks his 52nd Tennessee-Vanderbilt game.
• Tennessee has won nine of the last 10 meetings in this series, including each of the last seven and four straight at Memorial Gym.
• No active Vol has ever lost a game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym.
• Tennessee made history in its last trip to Memorial Gym (Jan. 18, 2020), as it held Vanderbilt without a 3-pointer for the first time since the 3-point line was introduced (snapping Vandy’s streak of 1,080 games with at least one make).
• Just 181 miles separate UT’s Thompson-Boling Arena and Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium.
LAYUP LINES
• The Vols and Commodores were first scheduled to play at Memorial Gym on Jan. 12, but the game was postponed after UT had traveled to Nashville.
• Sophomore Josiah-Jordan James has missed Tennessee’s last two games with a left wrist injury.
• After their 10-1 start, the Vols are 5-5 over their last 10 games.
• The true freshman duo of Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer have accounted for 43.2 percent of Tennessee’s scoring over the last five games.
• Tennessee is the only team in the SEC with three players who have scored 27 or more points in a game this season—Jaden Springer (30), Victor Bailey Jr. (29) and Keon Johnson (27).
• Reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons is a top-10 finalist for the Julius Erving Award and one of 15 candidates for the Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year.
DEFENSE WINS
• According to KenPom, the Vols rank fifth in the NCAA in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing only 88.5 points per 100 possessions. College teams typically average close to 70 possessions per game.
• Tennessee ranks 18th in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 62.7 points per game.
• The Vols are forcing 15.7 turnovers per game and converting those turnovers into 17.6 points per game.
• Tennessee has forced 15 of 21 opponents to turn the ball over on 20 percent or more of their possessions. The Vols are forcing opponents to turn it over 22.8 percent of the time this season.
• In SEC play, Tennessee has led the league in turnover margin all season (currently +2.9 per game).
• Only once this season has a Tennessee opponent scored 80 or more points. That was Georgia, in a game the Vols won, 89-81, on Feb. 10.
ABOUT VANDERBILT
• Since taking on the Vols in the middle of last month, Vanderbilt is 2-6 overall and has fallen in four of its last five outings. However, all four of its losses, which bookended a 21-point win over Mississippi State, have been by six points or less.
• Like in January’s matchup, the Commodores will be led by standout sophomore guard, Scotty Pippen Jr. Pippen Jr. leads the Commodores and ranks second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 20.5 points. He is fresh off 21- and 24-point performances in contests against Kentucky and Alabama last week. Pippen Jr. also leads Vandy and ranks second in the conference in assists, dishing out an average of 5.2 per game. On the defensive end, the Los Angeles native has recorded an average of 1.7 steals per game, which ranks third in the SEC.
• Under the basket, classmate Dylan Disu has complemented Pippen, ranking second on the team and 10th in the SEC in scoring with 15.0 points per game. On the glass, Disu has been dominant, leading both the Commodores and the SEC with an eye-popping 9.2 rebounds per game. Disu is also averaging 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game on the defensive end.
• Off the bench, VU has gotten consistent production from sophomore Jordan Wright, who is the team’s third-leading scorer (8.2 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (4.3 rpg). Wright has also dished out 1.8 assists per game while playing primarily in the frontcourt.
• Vanderbilt is nicknamed the Commodores in honor of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who made his fortunes in shipping. Commodore was a term used by the U.S. Navy during the mid-to-late 19th century, hence Vandy’s use of the phrase, “Anchor Down.”
LAST MEETING WITH VANDERBILT
• A then-season-high 16 points from freshman guard Keon Johnson and another solid effort on the defensive end led the 10th-ranked Tennessee basketball team past in-state foe Vanderbilt Jan. 16, 2021, in Knoxville.
• The win was the Volunteers’ seventh consecutive victory over the Commodores, and their fourth in a row inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
• The victory also tied Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes with legendary former coaches Phog Allen and Don Haskins for 20th place on the all-time Division I wins list with 719.
• Johnson’s 16 points were both a team- and season-high, coming on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and a near perfect 7-of-8 mark from the free-throw line.
• Senior John Fulkerson was among the most efficient players on the floor, scoring 15 points, knocking down five of his six attempts from the field and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.
• Freshman Jaden Springer stuffed the stat sheet, totaling 10 points, a season-high seven rebounds, five assists and a season-high-tying three steals.
• Victor Bailey Jr. finished the night with 11 points, nine of which came on three made 3-pointers during the Vols’ early second-half run that stretched the lead.
• The first half was a tightly contested affair that saw the defenses controlling the flow. While the squads combined to shoot a fairly efficient 37 percent from the field, there were only 10 combined offensive rebounds and seven second-chance points between the sides.
• A late push to end the opening half sent the Vols into the locker room with a 34-24 lead.
• The start of the second half saw a similar pace to the opening frame. The Vols broke things open with a 15-2 run during a four-minute stretch where they knocked down five shots from 3-point range, three of which came from Bailey Jr., to extend the lead to 56-42.
• Over the final 10 minutes, the Vols stifled Vandy on the defensive end and made a number of key buckets to close out the night.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST VANDERBILT
• Grant Williams (now with the Boston Celtics) erupted for a record-setting performance as the No. 1-ranked Volunteers held off Vanderbilt, 88-83, in overtime in Nashville on Jan. 23, 2019. Williams finished with a career-high 43 points and also tallied eight rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal. The junior forward was 10-of-15 from the field and a program-record 23-of-23 from the free-throw line.
• Josh Richardson (now a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers) helped the Vols rally from two separate double-digit deficits in the second half by scoring 15 of his game-high 22 points in the final stanza to lift Tennessee to a 67-61 comeback win over Vanderbilt in the 2015 SEC Tournament in Nashville on March 12, 2015. In what was the second-to-last game of his career, Richardson also led all players with three steals and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
• Dyron Nix (17 points, 18 rebounds) and Doug Roth (10 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles and Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 79-69 in overtime in Stokely Athletics Center Feb. 4, 1987, in Knoxville.
• Dick Johnston made six free throws in double overtime to lift UT to a 77-72 win over the Dores in Nashville on Feb. 2, 1970. Jimmy England led the charge with 27 points, and Bobby Croft had an 18-16 double-double.
• Tennessee All-Century Team member Paul “Lefty” Walther (1948-49) never lost to Vanderbilt during his career as a Vol. The Covington, Kentucky, native helped lead Tennessee to a 4-0 record over the Dores, beating Vandy by an average of 9.8 points.
THE NIGHT THE STREAK ENDED…
• Thirteen months ago, on Jan. 18, 2020, Tennessee ended Vanderbilt’s decades-long 3-point streak during a 66-45 win at Memorial Gym.
• The Vols held Vanderbilt to an 0-25 night from 3-point range. It was the first time since the 3-point shot was introduced in the 1986-87 season (spanning 1,080 games) that the Commodores failed to knock down at least one 3-point attempt.
• The 0-for-25 effort represented one of the worst 3-point-shooting performances by a men’s Division I team in 20 seasons. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, only Northwestern State’s 0-for-26 effort in a game in 2012 was worse during that span.
SECOND TIME’S A CHARM
• Since 2018, Rick Barnes and his staff have guided the Volunteers to a 12-5 record in regular-season rematch games (SEC Tournament games not included).
ROAD WARRIORS
• Dating to the start of the 2017-18 season, Tennessee has won more than half of its true road games during SEC play, going 18-15 (.545).
• This season, the Vols have road wins at Missouri, Texas A&M and Kentucky.
VOLS SUCCESSFUL ON THE IN-STATE CIRCUIT
• Tennessee has won its last four games against in-state opponents and is 19-5 vs. in-state foes under coach Rick Barnes.
• Those 19 wins include triumphs over Chattanooga, ETSU (twice), Tennessee State, Vanderbilt (9x), Tennessee Tech (3x), Lipscomb (twice) and Memphis.
BEST TWO-GAME STRETCH FOR VJ
• From a scoring standpoint, junior guard Victor Bailey Jr. is coming off the best two-game stretch of his career—47 total points (23.5 ppg). He scored a career-high 29 vs. South Carolina and followed that with 18 against Kentucky.
• Prior to last week, Bailey’s best two-game scoring total was 34 points. He did that twice, most recently against Rider (23) and Marquette (11) in the final two games of his freshman season (2017-18) at Oregon.
• Bailey was UT’s top scorers in each of the last two games. On the season, he has led the Vols in scoring a team-high seven times.
-UT Athletics
Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the media on Monday afternoon to recap Saturday’s game against Kentucky and to preview Wednesday’s contest at Vanderbilt.
On Kentucky and South Carolina both being able to shoot a high three-point percentage against Tennessee this past week:
“Well I think you have to give them credit for it obviously. I think it was what got South Carolina playing well. I think most teams when they start making some of those threes it gives them some confidence and I don’t think it was any question that span of the game was if you really break it down, that was a big part of the game because they made some threes. Some of them were tougher than others, but they made them. On the other hand, at that point in time, we could not really buy one. But I do know if there was anything to do other than—like I said the other night, there were some breakdowns in our scouting report. I don’t think we got back in the way we wanted to in terms of getting our feet set and ready to play a defender coming at you one-on-one with the ability to pull up or step back and coming off some screens. Again, they still made the shot regardless of what we did or didn’t do.”
On how much Coach Barnes thinks about the teams seeding in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament:
“The bottom line is you are wanting to win games. I don’t care what you think you are playing for—and all that stuff is out there, and you know it—the bottom line is if you want to play basketball, you want to win games. And you believe that you can get to where you can play basketball this time of year regardless. You do want to play games. I will tell you that this time of year you want to play games. Do you want easier routs through certain things like tournaments? Absolutely. I mean anybody would want that, but through the years not all that has proven to be the same? Sometimes teams that get started early are able to keep playing and get into a better rhythm. All I can say this year is I think this is a year for all of us where I don’t know if any of us can use the word rhythm, because there has been no rhythm. But the fact is where we are this year you just have to play good, consistent basketball, but we haven’t done that. And I can tell you this, our guys want to play consistent basketball. I know how badly John Fulkerson wants to play well. I know how badly Jaden, Keon and all of them want to sometimes. I can’t put a finger on it, and they can’t put a finger on it because some guys are still learning. There is no question about that. And as a team, you know the mental side of this game is not talked about near enough in terms of what players go through. What the ups and downs that they have to deal with and we try all different kinds of things to try to get them out of it. All of the things you ask about, yeah you talk about it sometimes to use it as a motivational piece as what we need to do, but the bottom line is, we have coached teams that weren’t playing very well at the end of the year and went on to win a tournament. Other teams that were playing really well got knocked out in the first round. The year we went to the final four we got beat in the first round or second round by Texas Tech, and I remember coach Knight shaking my hand and saying, ‘Hey this is good for you, now go win a national championship.’ At the time when you lose games, you don’t ever feel like it’s good for you, but it is what it is.”
On what the most pressing things the team has to focus on in practice over the next few weeks to achieve the team’s goals next month:
“We need to get consistent scoring from inside. We need John Fulkerson and Yves Pons to really contribute for us. There are going to be nights when you can’t make threes. We have tried to work through posting our guards up too, because you have to have a presence in there somehow. It would help us a lot if those guys would give us what we know they are capable of giving us, because we can still post our guards at times, but we would still need more from our front line. I will say this, if Josiah comes back he gives us some more on the front line when we go to the small lineup and more offense than we have been generating constantly all year.”
On Vanderbilt playing better over their last three games and what they are doing differently now since the first time Tennessee played them:
“Well, they have certainly gotten better in a lot of different areas. I think they have different players obviously. Pippen has played well. Disu I think is really an underrated player. But they have the ability to shoot the ball. They run a lot of different offensive sets where you have to be on edge there because they do shoot it well. I think that they have had it where they are a little more consistent with an inside game and they are mixing defenses so they can show a little bit more pressure if they want to. They have gotten better, and I think most teams do try to get better as the year goes on, but I also think they can count on you more than just one player to help.”
On the status of Josiah-Jordan James:
“Yeah it is a sprain, but he is trying. I mean, he is doing everything he can. We keep doing what we need to do from a medical side. Believe me, we need him. His leadership is very valuable to us which I think is evident Saturday since we missed that. But with that said, he is doing all he can, and it is just a day-to-day deal, and we will see what happens between now and whenever he can get back, but he is trying.
On the status of Josiah Jordan James has been able to do anything in practice:
“No, he tried and couldn’t, and he even tried before the game the other night just to go through warm-ups, but he just didn’t feel like he could be a factor with it.”
On how much Yves Pons is limited by his knee situation:
“Yeah, I think it is a problem, but he would never say it because he is just not one of those guys. He isn’t going to say it, he is going to try to go out and battle and do it. That’s Yves. But with the reps in practice, we have to really monitor his load right now, and I think that hurts him, because he is a guy who wants to take every rep if he can. I think he is better if he can do that, but we just can’t do it with him.”
On if he thinks Yves has been more hesitant offensively since he got hurt:
“I think he has been a little bit. Like I was saying earlier, we need he and Fulky to get aggressive. We ask them to do it. Fulky did it in the South Carolina game, and reverted back to pretty much what he’s been most of the year. They’ve got to get more involved, and the way our offense is set up it’s up to them to do it. We can run sets for them, but when you do that sometimes it puts them in disadvantageous situation, because people are loading up on them, as opposed to when they can catch in the flow and do the things we like to see them do. Both of those guys need to get more hungry and want to go score the basketball.”
On if John Fulkerson has any kind of injury or ailment currently, or is it just all mental:
“I wish I knew that answer. We’ve spent a lot of time with Fulky, all of us, in some way in trying to get him to do this or that. Like I said earlier, he wants to do it. We look at players and have expectations obviously, and he knows it too. I don’t think there’s any question he’s probably hurting more than anybody, because I know it means a lot to him. It means a lot to his teammates, but he’s struggling. It’s tough to watch, because the fact that he’s been such a big part of what we’ve done here. I don’t think he has answers, and we’ve tried to create answers even when we don’t have it, just trying to get to the core part of it. The fact is, I’ve been doing this long enough to know that I’ve watched a lot of great basketball players go through it, and it’s not fun, and it’s equally not fun for him knowing your teammates are counting on you. We just can’t seem to get the way you want it to for him. I think if any of us knew that answer, we would fix it because of the feeling we have towards him and what he deserves.”
On if there are any updates if the Florida game will be rescheduled, or if Kentucky was the last home game:
“We don’t know yet, and we won’t know for now.”
On what the conversations are like with Fulky such as when he kicks out to a shot instead of trying to score:
“It’s trying to say to him that a year ago, it wasn’t the case, and some of those he needs to shoot, because it’s going to get him on the foul line. It’s important that your post players, even if they aren’t making shots, to get some fouls in there, whether you make the basket or not. I think he’s missed a couple of those, and I do think it’s mental, I do. But those two answers you gave would be the two answers that he would say, whether he wasn’t ready or saw somebody that had a better shot. Again, post players are going to have to take some contested shots, especially when you aren’t shooting it well, because you are still trying to get the free throw line if you can’t make a shot. We had that feeling Saturday. We got in there a couple times and shot shots we think we can make. Again, it’s a mental battle he’s going through right now.”
On why teams have been able to beat them on baseline inbounds plays, whether it is lapse of the scouting report or attention:
“Well, you just answered the question—lapse of attention and details. Kentucky got a dunk Saturday, and we were yelling from the bench that we knew exactly what they were doing. It goes back to when you’re not playing well, your head’s somewhere else. I think if you made a bad play, if you don’t let it go and stay in the present moment, you’re going to give up the basket. I can go back to every one of those. The guys off the top that have been beat on backdoor plays, where they were just having not anything to do with the play. I know VJ got beat on one, Josiah got beat on one, Keon has got beat on one, and Jaden has. With all those guys, if you go and watch it, they weren’t playing great, and they weren’t locked into playing as if every possession matters and they got burnt.”
On if he thought their defense was better in the second half against Kentucky:
“Well, they made some shots. When you’re making shots, it makes this game look so much better. Some nights you don’t even play well, but you make shots that look good. You’re just making shots. They had players that we knew that could shoot the three, and our scouting report was to guard them, but they made a couple tough shots off one-on-one isolation plays. We’ve done that too, where when we’re playing well, with some tough shots Keon and Jaden made. Nothing looks good when you aren’t making shots, even when you execute, none of it looks good. When you’re making shots it’s good. When you’re making shots like they did in the first half, they didn’t allow us to get out and go at all in transition. So, because of that, we were getting deeper in the clock. It goes back to we either took shots we should’ve kicked out for a better shot, and that got to where we reverted back to where a couple of guys were on their heels, and not demanding the ball. It forces a couple guys to try to make something happen, to take difficult shots, because their mindset is when they run a play, their guy isn’t demanding the ball the way he should, and now the clock gets down and we got guys that go force the issue, and it ends up being a tough shot. When you predetermine what you’ll do when you get the ball, you’re not going to see the floor. I can show the guys today a couple times where they made the right play, but they already made up their mind they are going to shoot it, when they could’ve kicked out for a better shot. But with the way we were shooting threes at that time, maybe they felt they needed to go force the issue. So, the mental side is so much more important than some people recognize in the flow of the game and what’s going on. I do think mentally the other day—because we didn’t see the ball go in as early, we saw some shots rim in and out—it got to us, and we weren’t who we should’ve been.”
On options for plays when players are struggling to score:
“I don’t have to call a timeout. We’ve got calls. I felt like if I called a timeout—I wanted to get the tempo going, and I also felt like if I called timeout, we would tighten up even more. We actually played through it, and we got some stops and went down and got it back some. It’s all the feel you have with your team. We don’t need to call timeout to setup a play. If we get a rebound going the other way, I can tell the point guard to do this. Like I said the other night, just trying to get them relaxed and in a rhythm is why I didn’t call a timeout early. I just felt like we could go. We were tightening up some because of the shots we were missing and the fact that they we’re making some shots. I could just tell we were anxious, and I felt like a timeout would make us more anxious. We actually got some good looks and couldn’t convert them.”
On the struggles of Keon Johnson, Santiago Vescovi, and Jaden Springer:
“Well, you go back to the first game and two guys, Keon and Jaden, scored fifty. They’re not going to let that happen again, so they adjusted. They adjusted their game plan to them and did exactly what we told them was going to happen. Kentucky didn’t do one thing Saturday that we didn’t tell them they we’re going to do. You’re not going to come into a game after losing where two guys get fifty and say we’re going to let them do it again. We’re going to see if they’ll pass the ball. I thought they got frustrated a little bit. I thought Jaden over penetrated and got down too deep, and then he tried to shuffle off some passes and put some guys into some tough situations. Keon in isolation one time—when you’re isolated, you can’t get the ball taken from you. He had his back to his defender and they we’re digging down, and he let his defender knock the ball away from him. You can’t lose the ball in those isolation situations. Keon went through a stretch where he took three straight shots where he was trying too hard. As much as I can talk to you about us having a feel for our players, players have a feel for their teammates probably more so. They look in your eyes and say this guy’s really not ready, and some of those alpha dogs say, ‘I’m not afraid to go do this. I’m going to go do it.’ Sometimes, they pick the wrong time and the wrong shot, and it’s not out of being selfish; it’s just out of being competitive and still learning the game.”
On what strategy is best for a coach to use when his team is struggling:
“It depends on the individual. The one thing you don’t want to do is tighten them up. Through the process of being with them all the time, you like to think of what you can do to shake certain guys up. Some guys respond to hard coaching, some guys not so much, and some guys are there in between. Through what we do in practice and knowing our players, that’s what you’ve got to do to try to get that individual player going. When you see your team as a whole ding that, that’s where it gets difficult. You see guys pressing too much trying to do things as opposed to just playing in their role. When guys that you’re counting on aren’t delivering the way you need them to deliver, it’s going to put some pressure in other areas, and most of the time that ends up back on the guards, because they’ve got the ball in their hands. Everybody is different, and you’ve got to know how to push each guy’s button individually. Sometimes you push it right and sometimes you don’t.”
On the team’s performances at home:
“I don’t know this year if home games have been an advantage for anybody. I feel like everywhere we go is pretty much equal. We’ve had our moments at home. I didn’t think we were very good this past Saturday. We know what the Kentucky rivalry means to both universities. We came out—I don’t like to use the term flat, because when I watched the team play Saturday, I don’t think they weren’t ready to play. I think that they had all intentions of wanting to play well, but when they didn’t make shots the way they needed to, I could tell they were anxious. One time there was a rebound where we wanted to get out and run, and all three guys that could’ve gotten the rebound looked like they were heading the other way thinking the other guys was going to get it. That’s when you know your guys are anxious. At home, I think we’ve tried and done as good a job as anybody trying to create a nice situation for the players. I think you look around the country and teams that have had these great home-court advantages though the years, and we’re one of them. It’s not what it has been in the past.”
-UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Twenty NCAA® women’s and men’s basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as finalists Monday for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award®. Tennessee’s Rennia Davis is among those in contention for the honor.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. A complete list of candidates is included in the link above.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 senior guard/forward from Jacksonville, Fla., is averaging 16.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 82.0 percent from the free-throw line. She is in the process of becoming one of only five players who rank in the top 10 in both career scoring and rebounding average at UT, standing 10th (15.1) and sixth (8.0), respectively. Davis also is en route to becoming only the 13th UT woman to average double figures in scoring all four years of her career.
In conference play, Davis is sixth among her peers at 19.1 ppg. and is ninth in rebounding at 9.0 rpg. She is fifth in field goal percentage (50.3) and free throw percentage (84.1). Against ranked foes, Davis is putting up 20.3 ppg. and 11.0 rpg. while shooting 49.5 and 86.2 percent from the field and charity stripe, respectively. Those numbers have made her a candidate for the Wade Trophy, Naismith Trophy, John R. Wooden Award and Cheryl Miller Award.
Through 19 games this season, Davis leads the Lady Vols with seven double-doubles and has 36 for her career to tie for fourth all-time at Tennessee. She has scored 20+ points on six occasions as a senior, tallying 19 such games during her career to stack up seventh in program annals. Davis also pulled down 20 rebounds vs. No. 12/12 Kentucky on Jan. 24, becoming only the eighth Lady Vol to do that and tying for the fifth-highest total in UT history.
Davis has led No. 16 Tennessee to a 13-6 overall record this season with four victories over teams ranked in the top 15, including No. 2/3 South Carolina. The Lady Vols currently stand in fourth place in the SEC standings at 7-4.
Off the court, Davis is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. Additionally, she earned the 2019-20 Chancellor’s Honors – Extraordinary Academic Achievement Award at Tennessee.
She is a 2019-20 product of the year-long leadership curriculum of UT’s VOLeaders Academy. By using their platform in sport, student-athletes admitted into the VOLeaders Academy learn how to positively impact their team, campus and local and global communities. The program aims to inspire student-athletes to find ways to use their passion of sport and their influence to enact positive change that transcends their athletic success.
Davis arrived at Tennessee after completing an associate of arts degree while attending high school. In three years, the aspiring restaurateur graduated from UT with a degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management with a minor in business administration. This season, she is pursuing a master’s in agricultural leadership, education and communication.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 women’s candidates and 30 men’s candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 22. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Women’s Final Four® and NCAA Men’s Final Four®.
-UT Athletics
Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes spoke with the media on Monday via Zoom to reflect on the Kentucky loss and preview Vanderbilt.
Kelsea Ballerini is having success with her song “hole in the bottle” but this week she’s singing the praises of her friend Carly Pearce‘s new collection of music.
On Friday, Carly released her very personal project, 29, and it turns out that Kelsea is quite “obsessed” with the title track as she took to social media to share with fans her love of the song.
Just for reference Dibs is Kelsea’s and her husband, Morgan Evans’ dog that was being watched while the couple were on the West Coast — which turned into an extended stay for Kelsea and Morgan as they were delayed in getting back to Nashville due to the snow and ice storms that blew through Middle Tennessee last week.
Just in case you want to hear what Kelsea Ballerini is raving about — here’s the title track to Carly Pearce’s new project, 29
And we’re still raving about Kelsea’s smash hit “hole in the bottle’ — which you can check out the music video for here…
Headline Photo (Kelsea) Courtesy of Kelsea Ballerini
Headline Photo (Carly) Credit: Allister Ann
Jordan Davis released the video for his Top-20 hit “Almost Maybes” this weekend.
Jordan says “This song being so kind of true to me is I’ve been able to kind of recreate those scenarios through a music video and do it in a tasteful way, not really bashing anybody, but able to recreate those relationships and the settings. So, I didn’t have the big beard (at) the time I got dumped at a Baton Rouge college bar called Bogie’s (laughs). I thought it’d be cool to just kind of go back and recreate that as real as we could.”
Check out the video for Jordan Davis’ “Almost Maybes” right here…
Photo Courtesy of UMG
While Tenille Arts‘ Top 20 hit “Somebody Like That” is climbing the country music airplay charts, she has shared a new song with fans.
Tenille says “Give It To Me Straight” isn’t a break-up song, “It’s a pre-breakup song… you know when you just want someone to cut to the chase and tell you why you’re REALLY breaking up? Well, it’s that.”
And she launched the song with a shot!
Now you can listen to the track right here…
Photo Courtesy of Tenille Arts
