KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Thursday evening, #23/24 Tennessee (8-1, 2-0 SEC) opens a three-game stretch vs. a trio of teams that stand a combined 27-2 overall and 11-2 in their respective conferences. Two of those teams are receiving votes and the third is ranked No. 4 in the nation.

First on the docket is Georgia (10-1, 2-1 SEC), which is receiving votes in both polls and comes to Knoxville for a 6:32 p.m. showdown on Thursday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols currently stand all alone in third place in the SEC standings as one of only three teams with unblemished league records. The other two are #5/4 South Carolina (3-0) and #7/7 Texas A&M (3-0). The Lady Bulldogs, meanwhile, come to Knoxville holding down sixth place in SEC play.

The Big Orange women have wins over two top-15 teams, including (then) No. 15/15 Indiana in Bloomington (66-58) on Dec. 17 and last Thursday night in Knoxville vs. (then) No. 13/13 Arkansas (88-73). UT’s only setback is an overtime road loss to West Virginia (8-2), which is receiving votes in both polls and thundered past (then) No. 17/17 Texas last week by a 92-58 count.

UGA’s only loss came in its SEC opener at home vs. (then) No. 12/13 Mississippi State, 69-62, on Dec. 31. The Lady Bulldogs’ top win appears to be a 75-69 overtime triumph in Atlanta over rival Georgia Tech (now 6-3 overall/4-2 ACC).

Tennessee is coming off a one-point, gut-check win at LSU on Sunday, 64-63. It marked UT’s first win in Baton Rouge since 2014 and Kellie Harper‘s first victory there personally, as a head coach or player. Georgia secured a 10-point win over Florida on Sunday in Athens, 68-58.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Thursday’s game will be televised by SEC Network with Courtney Lyle (PxP) and Carolyn Peck (analyst) on the call.
• All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and the SEC Network 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.
• Institutions also can produce for SEC Network+ (SECN+) any conference and non-conference games that are not otherwise televised. Those are available on the ESPN app and SECSports.com.
• 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 22nd season, Dearstone is joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
• 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 in the black bar at the top of the page.
• Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALLVOLS.COM

• Single game tickets are on sale, starting at just $5. Go to AllVols.com to purchase.

WE BACK PAT WEEK BEGINS

• Jan. 14-21 is officially We Back Pat Week in the Southeastern Conference. This marks the 10th anniversary of the initiative within the league and was established in conjunction with the Pat Summitt Foundation.
• During the week, SEC member institutions will offer support to the Foundation during each of their 18 women’s basketball home games in 14 cities through a variety of efforts that include promotional public address announcements and video endorsements.
• Tennessee’s official We Back Pat home game is on Jan. 21 vs. UConn at 7 p.m. ET.
• UT also will support the cause at home vs. Georgia on Jan. 14, on the road at Alabama on Jan. 17 and at Vanderbilt on Jan. 24.
• Jan. 14-21, fashion accessories brand Kendra Scott (which has a store in Knoxville) is donating 20 percent of proceeds from online and select store sales of its Elisa Gold Short Pendant Necklace in Amethyst to benefit The Pat Summitt Foundation.
• The Pat Summitt Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation, was established by Pat and Tyler Summitt in November 2011. Its mission is to award grants to nonprofit organizations that advance research for treatment and a cure, provide care and support for patients and caregivers, and educate the public about Alzheimer’s disease.

LVFL NEWS

• LVFL Michelle Marciniak (point guard, 1993-96) was honored on Jan. 13 with the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award.
• Marciniak will be recognized at Thursday night’s game.
• The Silver Anniversary Award annually salutes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers and is presented in recognition for collegiate and professional achievements as well as civic contributions.
• The Indiana Civil Rights Commission has awarded LVFL, former WNBA player and current Indiana Fever vice president of basketball operations/general manager Tamika Catchings the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Indiana Holiday Commission Freedom Award.
• The award is given to those who have worked diligently to improve their communities in a manner that exemplifies the vision of Dr. King.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LADY VOLS

• UT is led in scoring by junior guard/forward Rae Burrell, who is putting up 17.8 ppg. and shooting 50 percent from the field, 46.2 percent on threes and 82.8 percent from the free-throw line. She averaged 10.5 ppg. and shot 41, 33 and 60 percent, respectively, a year ago in those categories.
• Burrell matched her career high in points with 26 vs. No. 13/13 Arkansas last Thursday night and, combined with a team-leading 18 in the win over LSU on Sunday, averaged 22.0 ppg. last week, shooting 58.6 percent from the field, 50.0 on threes (5-10) and 83.3 from the charity stripe.
• In addition to having numbers that in most leagues would earn her player of the week, Burrell also is worthy of national recognition. After somewhat understandably being bypassed on preseason watch lists, the junior has earned an addition to someone’s midseason list.
• Senior Rennia Davis, who is on all of the preseason awards watch lists (Wade, Wooden, Naismith, Cheryl Miller), the Wooden Midseason List and a projected All-SEC First Team pick by the coaches and players, is second in scoring (13.3 ppg.) and is first on the team in boards at 8.6 rpg.
• Davis, who averaged 18.0 ppg. and 8.2 rpg. as a junior last season, had tough luck shooting and found herself in foul trouble in two of UT’s first four contests this season. A breakout game of 19 points and 15 rebounds vs. Indiana on Dec. 17, however, helped Davis get her mojo back.
• The senior has posted double-doubles in three of her last five contests, including 19 points and 15 rebounds vs. No. 15/15 Indiana, 19/11 vs. Lipscomb and 26/11 vs. No. 13/13 Arkansas.
• The double-double vs. Arkansas was the 33rd of Davis’ career, moving her past Tamika Catchings into sole possession of sixth place on UT’s career list.
• Davis has climbed to 20th on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,520 points and 18th on the rebounding list with 812 rebounds.
• Sophomore Jordan Horston, an SEC All-Freshman performer a year ago is third on the team in scoring at 8.9 ppg. and is first in assists average (3.7) and  steals average (1.8). She has started the past five games after coming off the bench the first four, tallying 11 points each in UT’s first two SEC contests.
• Horston has had five or more assists in four of her past seven contests, including an 11-point, eight-rebound, five-dime outing vs. Arkansas.
• Freshman guard/forward Marta Suárez, joining Burrell and Davis as UT’s only starters in every game this season, is second on the Lady Vols in rebound average (6.2) and is seventh in scoring at 6.0 ppg.
• Kasiyahna Kushkituah is averaging 10.3 ppg. and 5.2 rpg. off the bench over the past four contests, connecting on 63 percent of her shots (17-27).
• Freshman Destiny Salary played 14 minutes vs. LSU,  tallying five boards and two assists with no turnovers.
• Nine different players have scored in double figures thus far, led by Burrell doing so in eight games.
• Nine different Lady Vols have hit at least one three-pointer this season. The last season Tennessee had nine different players hit a trey was in 2011-12.

RECAPPING UT’S LAST GAME

• The Lady Vols held off a scrappy LSU squad in a back-and-forth affair on the road on Sunday, winning 64-63 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
• It was Tennessee’s first win in Baton Rouge in its last four trips (last win in 2014), and Kellie Harper picked up her first career victory in the venue as a head coach and former Lady Vol player. She was 0-2 as a player and previously was 0-1 as UT’s coach and 0-1 while at NC State.
• Junior Rae Burrell led Tennessee (8-1, 2-0 SEC), finishing with 18 points and three rebounds. Sophomore Tamari Key turned in a season-high 12 points and six rebounds, and sophomore Jordan Horston also found her way into double figures with 11 points.
• LSU (4-6, 2-2 SEC) was paced by senior Khayla Pointer who logged 25 points and five assists. Tiara Young was the next highest scorer for the Tigers with 11 points and three rebounds.

UT-UGA SERIES NOTES

• UT enters Thursday’s contest with a 52-17 advantage in the series. Tennessee has won 20 of the past 23, but the programs have split the past four meetings.
• The Lady Vols are 23-4 in Knoxville and 15-3 at neutral sites all-time vs. the Lady Bulldogs. UT is 14-10 vs. Georgia in Athens, including losses there in 2017 and 2019.
• Tennessee is 1-3 vs. UGA in overtime games.
• The Lady Vols have a 14-3 postseason record against Georgia after winning in the 2015 SEC quarterfinals.
• These programs have met 54 times when both teams were ranked and twice with neither team ranked. This is the 14th occasion when only one squad is ranked.
• This is Kellie Harper‘s second meeting with UGA as a head coach. She was 6-2 vs. the Lady Bulldogs as a player (1995-99) and 1-0 as coach.
• Tennessee and Georgia met in the 1996 NCAA Championship game in Charlotte, with the Lady Vols prevailing, 83-64, in the first of three straight national championship seasons.
• Tennessee and Georgia rank No. 1 and No. 2 in SEC regular season championships, with the Lady Vols owning 18 and the Lady Bulldogs having seven.
• Dawn Marsh dished out a Lady Vol record 18 assists vs. Georgia on March 6, 1988.

ABOUT GEORGIA

• The Lady Bulldogs are off to a 10-1 start this season, including 2-1 in the SEC after knocking off Auburn (76-44) and Florida (68-58) in their last two games. UGA’s only loss this season is to Mississippi State in the SEC opener, 69-62.
• Georgia is led by 6-4 redshirt senior center Jenna Staiti, who is averaging 15.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while hitting 54 percent from the field.
• Senior guard Gabby Connolly also averages double digits, firing in 10.1 ppg.
• Joni Taylor is in her sixth season as head coach of the Lady Bulldogs and has directed her charges to a 108-59 (.647) record during that span.
• UGA returned four starters and 10 total letterwinners from last season (17-14 / 7-9, t9th SEC).

RECAPPING UGA’S LAST GAME

• The University of Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team overcame an early deficit and found its stride in the second quarter to beat the Florida Gators, 68-58, Sunday afternoon in Athens.
• The victory improved Georgia’s record to 10-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. It also marked the program’s 500th all-time win at Stegeman Coliseum.
• Jenna Staiti scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, marking her fifth double-double of the season. Staiti has scored in double figures in 19 of the last 20 games.
• Maya Caldwell added 11 points to help the Lady Bulldog seniors improve to 7-0 against the Gators in their careers.

THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET

• The No. 23/24 Lady Vols picked up their third SEC win on Jan. 12, 2020, defeating Georgia at Thompson-Boling Arena, 73-56, in front of a season-high crowd of 10,036.
• UT (13-3, 3-1 SEC) was led by junior Rennia Davis with 17 points and six rebounds. Senior Lou Brown and freshmen Tamari Key and Jordan Horston were also in double figures with 12, 13 and 14, respectively.
• Junior Maya Caldwell paced Georgia (10-7, 1-3 SEC) in scoring with 13 points. Gabby Connally chipped in 11 points, and Que Morrison finished with 10.
• Horston led Tennessee in assists, dishing out seven, while the Lady Vols out-rebounded UGA, 35-29, and outscored UGA in the paint, 36-22, with 20 of those coming in the second half.

WHAT’S NEXT

• Tennessee travels to Tuscaloosa this weekend to face RV/NR Alabama (10-1/3-1 SEC) in a 3 p.m. ET (2 CT) Sunday matinee streamed on SECN+ from Coleman Coliseum. UT’s Revival Series match-up with No. 4 UConn (7-0/6-0 BIG EAST) looms next Thursday in Knoxville (7 p.m. ET / ESPN or ESPN2).
• Georgia, meanwhile, will play host to Ole Miss on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (SEC Network).

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt announced Tuesday that veteran Southeastern Conference coach Kevin Steele has joined the program as a defensive assistant coach.

Steele, a 1981 graduate of the University of Tennessee and former Vols assistant, returns to Rocky Top after serving as the defensive coordinator at Auburn the past five seasons. His units ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense in four out of those five seasons, while producing 12 NFL Draft picks and multiple first-rounders.

“Kevin is someone I have respected and admired for a long time on and off the field,” Pruitt said, “I had the opportunity to learn and work with him during our time at Alabama and our friendship grew from there. He has outstanding knowledge of the game and understands what it takes to be successful in this conference. Having coached under the great Johnny Majors, he has a sincere appreciation for what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer. We are thrilled to welcome Kevin and Linda back to Rocky Top.”

In total, Steele owns 38 years of coaching experience, including 13 years in the SEC and 10 years as a defensive coordinator. Pruitt and Steele reunite after serving on Alabama’s staff together from 2007-08.

“Linda and I are excited to be coming home,” Steele said. “Tennessee is a special place to me personally. I am truly grateful to Coach Pruitt and Coach Fulmer for this opportunity, and I am eager to get to work alongside them once again. I look forward to helping create an environment where our players are successful and truly embrace what it means to be a Volunteer.”

In 2020, Steele’s unit ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring defense while playing a 10-game conference slate. He also served as interim head coach for the Tigers’ Citrus Bowl contest against Northwestern.

In 2019, Auburn’s defense ranked eighth nationally in both red-zone and third-down defense, allowing only 19.5 points per game against a schedule that featured six 11-win opponents. The 2018 Auburn defense ranked 14th nationally in scoring defense (19.2) and allowed only nine rushing touchdowns. The Tigers ranked in the top 20 nationally in sacks (38) and tackles for loss (96) and were ninth nationally with three interception returns for scores.

The 2017 season saw Steele earn Broyles Award finalist honors as SEC West champion Auburn ranked 14th in total defense and 12th in scoring defense, allowing just 4.67 yards per play, which was eighth-best nationally. The Tigers ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense, 11th in red zone defense and 28th in total defense in his first season of 2017, an improvement of 43 spots over the previous season. The Tigers held eight consecutive opponents without a rushing touchdown, the longest season streak at Auburn since 1957.

Steele served as defensive coordinator and linebacker coach for LSU in 2015, going to Baton Rouge from Alabama, where he spent the 2014 season coaching the Crimson Tide linebackers and special assistant to the head coach. In 2013, he served as Alabama’s director of player personnel. Steele was the defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2007 and then held the same position at Clemson for three years from 2009-11. While at Clemson, the Tigers won the 2011 ACC title, their first since 1991. Steele’s 2010 Clemson defense led the ACC and ranked No. 13 nationally in points allowed, surrendering 18.8 points per game.

Steele coached with Bobby Bowden at Florida State for four years (2003-06), serving as the executive head coach for the Seminoles. He was named the Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year in 2005 at Florida State after helping the Seminoles sign the top class in the country.

Steele joined Florida State after serving as the head coach at Baylor from 1999-2002. Prior to overseeing the Big 12 program, Steele coached linebackers for the Carolina Panthers in the NFL from 1995-98. Under head coach Dom Capers, the Panthers reached the NFC Championship game in their second season (1996).

From 1989-94, Steele coached the linebackers under Nebraska legend Tom Osborne. During his six years in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers went 60-11, appeared in six bowl games, won four conference championships and captured the 1994 national championship with a 13-0 record.

The Dillon, South Carolina, native spent his freshman season at Furman before transferring to Tennessee, where he was a member of Majors’ squads. Steele was a student assistant coach in 1980 and then a graduate assistant the following year (1981) before being promoted to outside linebackers coach in 1982.

He served on Majors’ staff again from 1987-88 as defensive backs coach and was part of a 1987 Vols team that posted a 10-2-1 record, capping the year with a No. 14 national ranking and a Peach Bowl victory.

Steele and his wife, Linda, have a son, Gordon, and a daughter, Caroline. Gordon serves on the football coaching staff at Alabama.

The Kevin Steele File

Personal Information
Hometown: Dillon, South Carolina
Education: Tennessee, 1981
Wife: Linda
Children: Gordon, Caroline

Coaching Experience
1980-81: Tennessee, student/graduate assistant
1982: Tennessee, outside linebackers
1983: New Mexico State, linebackers
1984-86: Oklahoma State, linebackers/tight ends
1987-88: Tennessee, defensive backs
1989-94: Nebraska, linebackers
1995-98: Carolina Panthers, linebackers
1999-2002: Baylor, head coach
2003-06: Florida State, linebackers
2007: Alabama, defensive coordinator
2008: Alabama, linebackers
2009-11: Clemson, defensive coordinator/linebackers
2013: Alabama, director player personnel
2014: Alabama, special assistant to the head coach/linebackers
2015: LSU, defensive coordinator/linebackers
2016-20: Auburn, defensive coordinator
2020-21: Auburn, interim head coach
2021-present: Tennessee, defensive assistant coach

-UT Athletics

Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes sat down with the media via Zoom to discuss this week’s games with Vanderbilt.

On the uniqueness of the schedule this week and if he’s ever had an experience playing the same team twice in a week:
“Only one time that I can tell you. I was at Providence, in the Big East we had a snow date on the last day of the regular season. The game got moved from Saturday to Monday and then we ended up playing Georgetown again that Sunday the year we won the Big East Championship. That’s the only time I can remember playing the same team multiple times in a week. We obviously played some other games in between, but I don’t think we’ve ever played back-to-back. If we have, I don’t remember it.”

On what the communication was like from SEC to play Vanderbilt on Tuesday:
“We had heard rumors. This time of year, we understand it. When cancellations start happening we’re going to have these kinds of situations. But, we had heard about it prior to the game. We heard that there was potential for it to happen. The SEC is on it, they put it out there as a possibility and then once we got through with media on Saturday and got back to the bus they had confirmed it.”

On if they’re testing three times a week and if he gets nervous awaiting the results:
“We do test three times a week. Do I get nervous about it? Probably not as much. For me, it’s what it is. What it’s going to be, it’s going to be. But, for like Mary-Carter and Chad and for everyone that’s on it every day, we get the text that whether it’s negative or positive, the bus driver is getting tested along with everyone. It’s something you can’t really worry about. You’re always concerned about it, because it ultimately falls on the safety of the people in your program that you feel responsible for, but we’re doing it three times a week and we’re still trying to do everything we can when we’re on the road. Teams I think are doing everything they can to accommodate us. But, if we walk in and things aren’t how we need them and us as coaches need to sit out in the hallway to get the social distancing—we have a great setup here at Thompson-Boling. We have four locker rooms we can give teams so they can really spread out. Everything we’re doing here—like when I get finished with you all, we’re in a big room spread out. Everything we do, we’re staying within the regulations with what needs to be going on. We’ll take two buses to Nashville tonight, then we’ll make sure tomorrow when we get over there, that we’re spaced out the way we need to, even if it means that us as coaches need to do something we don’t normally do, because we’re going to try to do everything we can to prevent what we can prevent.”

On what he looks at first when he picks up a stat sheet:
“The final score. It depends though. I’m big on assist/turnover ratio. I’m big on field goal percentage. But, probably the first thing I’m looking at is individual guys on our team and maybe individuals on the other team to see if we’ve done the things we talked about. I think it varies depending on where my mind is at that time. You have about a thousand thoughts going through your mind depending on how the game ended. Rebounds is a big thing for this team and is an area we need to improve. I also think stats early in the year can be a bit misleading, because until you really start playing over a long period of time and obviously early in the year, you’re playing against competition—even though this year we didn’t play against the teams we normally play against in our normal buy games where you would expect to do things that will show up statistically that are good for you and your team. But, as you get into conference play and start breaking down non-league and conference play, you really start to get a feel for where you really are as a rebounding team, or an assist/turnover team. So much of it also depends on players too. When a game ends, I can’t tell you how many thoughts are going through my mind. Sometimes, I don’t even pick it up until I’m about to talk to Bob and Bert. I’ll just look at some things to have some thoughts in my head, so I don’t put out the things I’m actually thinking.”

On Vanderbilt:
“I think Jerry Stackhouse has done a really good job. He’s overhauled the team in terms of what he had last year. They run a lot of different things and you would expect that. He played for one of the greatest coaches in college basketball. He grew up in a great sports town in Kinston, North Carolina. My college coach is actually from Kinston. I kid with Jerry all the time about my coach being the best player to come out of Kinston, because he’s still East Carolina’s all-time leading scorer and he’s held that record since 1954. But, I think playing at North Carolina has meant that Jerry has put a little bit of the Carolina break in their game. I think he’s mixed in some of their defensive schemes and those things. Jerry is terrific. He’s got a lot of different things that he does, which I think comes from his experience in the NBA as both a player and a coach. His players have gotten better. When you look at the improvement of Scotty Pippen Jr. you have to be impressed. He’s building—the word culture is thrown around pretty freely at times, but I think he’s building the culture in the way that he wants it. I think he’s great for the game too. Being on conference calls with him and talking with him, I think he’s a great person to be in the college game and I think he’s done a lot more as a coach which we’ll see in his program, which is something we should all envy with how he goes about his business.”

On if preparing for the same team for back-to-back games changes his preparation at all:
“No, it won’t. We’ll go about this game the way we do it and then we’ll turn around and do it again. The difference is, that Vandy is a team we play twice a year anyway, it’s just that it’ll be there. In between you won’t have other games to see how other teams may have approached them in ways that you didn’t, but otherwise it’s just a quicker turnaround. Obviously, they will be fresher on our players memories after the game, but we’ll proceed as we always do. Normally you have some games in between where you can see against them go up against some different things to make some adjustments to your plan, but in this case the adjustments from one game to the other will be made off of the first game.”

On if he’s reached out to any coaches in other conferences to see how they may be dealing with this situation:
“We haven’t. Like I said, the preparation will be the same for us, with us going about doing what we do. I watched our games from a year ago. I saw the adjustments we made from a year ago. I saw the adjustments that we made and the adjustments they made. There will be adjustments made obviously, but I think both teams will go about preparation in the same way, because it’s a Tuesday Saturday game. It’s not like it’s a Tuesday Wednesday situation. If its Tuesday Wednesday, that would be very much different. In that case you would approach it like a conference tournament or an NCAA tournament game where you probably wouldn’t do anything on the floor. This week, we’ll go about our regular week. Wednesday will be our day off like it would have been had we played South Carolina. It would be a day off, then we’ll have Thursday and Friday to prep for Vanderbilt, so we’ll stick with that schedule.”

On the team’s rotation:
“I don’t think we have a set thing. We played with a lineup the other day that we’ve never practiced with. They did a terrific job. We had four guards out there with Yves (Pons) for a couple of possessions. I know this: We’re going to need Olivier (Nkamhoua). We think Olivier’s got a great future. The fact that E.J. (Anosike) is with us for another year after this year. He’s got a great future. Uroš (Plavšic) is getting better and better. There are certain games where you just can’t get that deep into your bench, as much as you’d like to. The fact is, these guys will continue approach practice (the right way) and do the things. That’s what’s it’s going to be. I tell them this – If they want to stay in the rotation, and there’s not a set rotation – it’s going to be based on what they do in practice every day. That’s where they build confidence, not only for themselves, but for us. When games start out, we have an idea, sometimes of what we’re going to do for the first couple of subs. Depending on foul trouble, that can change. In my mind, we’ve got 10 guys, 11 guys that are ready to play. Hopefully, even a 12th or 13th wants to do enough that they make us think about what they do. That’s what happens with good teams. It’s those guys that you would consider your rotational players – they say, ‘I’m going to do more. I want more playing time.’ We’re open-minded enough that if they do it, they’re going to get an opportunity.”

On if E.J. Anosike will return to Tennessee next season:
“I don’t think there’s any question he will. I think it’s going to be good for him. I actually told him the day that they made that announcement, I went to him and told him that we had just got a call from the NCAA that he wasn’t eligible this year and he has to come back next year. He looked at me and said, that’s OK, but I’d like to play this year to. I told him and he had a big smile on his face. He is excited about it.”

On how much improvement Vanderbilt sophomore Scotty Pippen Jr. has shown from last season:
“He’s much, much, much improved. He’s responsible for about half of their points, in production offensively. I love the demeanor that he plays with. He is a guy that went in last year and had to learn on the job. He had to stay out there. They needed him on the court. Just like I told our young freshman a year ago, Josiah(-Jordan) James. He didn’t get a chance to sit on the bench when he wasn’t playing well. He had to stay out there when he knew he wasn’t playing up to the level he wanted to play to. People were probably getting down on him, but in some ways that’s what helps guys grow quicker than anything. The fact that they’ve got to fight through those tough days. Last year, we struggled. We lost 14 or 15 games a year ago. That’s a tough thing when you’re a freshman out there being a big part of it and things aren’t going well. You’ve got to stay out there and fight through it. I know it helped Josiah and I think it helped Scotty Pippen Jr.”

On what he saw from freshmen Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer after earning their first career starts (against Arkansas and Texas A&M, respectively):
“I think they both have done well. I go back to what you said about starting. I don’t know that it really matters. I don’t think it does because I mentioned we had a lineup out there with both of them on the floor with Santi (Santiago Vescovi), V.J. (Victor Bailey Jr.) and Yves. Those guys, they’re very competitive – both of them. They want to be good. It’s going to be fun watching the get better over the next couple of weeks. They’re getting better now. They’re learning how to play with good players. They’re learning how to play with a post player, really for the first time. They’re starting to understand what goes into being a good basketball player, what goes into being a good team. I think they also realize that it’s probably harder than they thought it would be. There’s no reason for them to think differently, because they’ve had great success everywhere they’ve been. The biggest thing it they’re willingness to continue to want to be coached. They’re getting themselves in better shape, as I think we are as a team, which is important. They’ve been hurt by this late start, going back all the way to the summertime. They’ve also bene hurt by the stops and starts. The key now is that we can stay consistent, they can stay healthy and keep moving forward.”

On if senior E.J. Anosike needs to focus on doing something more consistently in order to increase his playing time:
“No, it really doesn’t have anything to do with it. It goes back to personnel and sometimes the game is going on and they have a guard lineup out there. The one thing you don’t want to do and we don’t want to do as a coaching staff is put guys on guys and make it very difficult for them to switch. We do quite a bit of switching at times. Most of what dictates who plays is matchups, but if guys aren’t doing the things we expect them to do, then certainly they won’t play. He hasn’t done that. It’s just that we were in a game the other day where we felt we needed to open the court up We needed to get out, get the ball moving and drive the ball. Our opponent will dictate sometimes who plays. I think one of the really neat things about this team is that we do have the versatility to play a number of different ways. I was impressed the other day. We had a group of guys that came out of a timeout and Coach (Kim) English wanted to try something that he had scouted on the team that we had not practiced. He drew it up, we came out and executed it perfectly. I told the team yesterday watching that, that’s a big step for us. We haven’t always done the things that we’ve wanted to do coming out of a timeout – just a little tweak here or a tweak there. Most of the time it’s the younger players, or the newer guys in a program. The older guys have been around long enough and they’ve seen those tweaks. It’s going to get back to opponents, what they have and what we feel we need to do at that point in time in the game.”

On if sophomore Santiago Vescovi’s confidence during Saturday win over Texas A&M is something that can ‘rub off’ on other teammates:
“I think it did. I think you saw him shooting the ball the way he does and doing some other things. I said it before, he’s a very deceptive defensive guy. He’s not going to be the guy out there that’s jumping round, but he understands angles. He’s a sophomore. Because he played so much a year ago, we take for granted that he’s an older guy. I think he’s 19. He’s young and he’s gotten himself in the best shape. The players do have a great respect for him because he works very hard. I said before the last game, I think the reason he had struggled is me not making it consistent for him in practice. He wants to take every rep and he doesn’t need to do that. He doesn’t, because when he’s in, he’s going to go all out. I do think that when he gets to shooting the ball like that, it does rub off on some guys and it certainly spreads things out for everybody else to give them room to operate.”

On why two of their best games have been on the road with Missouri and Texas A&M:
“First of all, Arkansas is a terrific team and we didn’t shoot the ball well against them and we certainly didn’t shoot the ball well against Alabama. You have two teams that came in here that are terrific offensive teams. Looking back, I can go back and look at the Alabama game – Keon said it – he wasn’t as sharp as he needed to be. We had won some games where they thought it would be easy, but it’s never easy. With the young guys, they have to get stronger a little bit to do that and learn that. The fact is, we’ve grown on the road and we’ve been focused. I don’t want to take anything away from Alabama and their win here, but we weren’t very good and we didn’t deserve to win the game and we got exactly what we deserved. We fought hard against Arkansas, and when you think about it, coming off a game with the way we felt we got beat, we didn’t deserve to win because we weren’t who we were supposed to be – we broke down too many ways – you go into the next game with a little bit of doubt, and you’re playing a really good team that lost one game and arguably a team in the conference that people thought was one of the better teams and you expect it to be a dog fight and it was. We also had a lead that game, and we didn’t put it away like we should have – give them credit – we made too many mistakes on the defensive end. With that said, we go on the road feeling good about beating Arkansas, but my message to them was that last time we started feeling good, we got beat. We better lock in and think about what we’re doing every game. I’ll go back to last year – even though we got some guys from a year ago, that doesn’t mean anything, unless we learn from the mistakes we made a year ago and I felt like we did that because last year when A&M came in here – they beat us and annihilated us on the boards. Even though they beat us on the boards the other day, it wasn’t anything like what happened to us a year ago. I can tell you that watching that tape going in was hard to watch, but I thought our guys did what we talked about over our scouting report.”

On if he thinks more SEC teams should be ranked, or if there are better SEC teams out there than people realize:
“I don’t know what you can put into rankings right now, because of the way we’ve played the schedule. If we had a full regular season by now, we would’ve already played Gonzaga, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin. I don’t know if we have got a full feel for what it is really like right now, but the fact is this league is good. Conference games are difficult because coaches know each other, we play each other, and we go back and look there’s a total makeover with teams. Once we get into conference play and get into a round robin, it’s difficult. We have our common opponents we play every year, but our league is really good, and you also look around and see teams doing well. I really feel for South Carolina and what they’ve had to go through. I know what we felt like when we had to sit and watch teams play at the beginning of the year and in some ways that would be better than getting to play a few games and then get shut down, that’s tough. I feel for Missouri as they are going through it at this point in time, but I’m not sure who else because I haven’t read that much. I do know that South Carolina’s going through it, and I hate it for Frank and Cuonzo as well as their teams, because we’ve said it many times that these guys are wanting to play basketball, but we know that we have to protect them the best way that we can.”

On what Corey Walker has to do in practice to earn some minutes and how difficult it is for him, considering he’s a true freshman during a COVID season and wasn’t able to start out the season because of injury:
“It’s extremely hard to catch up – when you missed what he’s missed, it’s really hard and difficult. He will have to continue to do what he’s doing and get himself in the kind of shape he needs to be in. He will need to get the speed and aggressiveness of what we play with, but it’s difficult. It’s hard to play more than 10 guys in games in what would be quality minutes. He’s like anyone else, and if he proves he’s ready to do it and we think he can help us, it’ll happen.”

On how confident he is that there will be an SEC tournament, or if the thinks they will use that week to make up games:
“I don’t know if I can say I am confident about anything beyond today. The commissioner and his staff will do an unbelievable job of doing what they need to at that point in time, but I just don’t know what it looks like. I don’t know what it’ll look like with the games we’ll have to make up, but we’ll be able to do whatever. Some people say why do that – when you qualify for the NCAA tournament – why go there and jeopardize playing and doing that. It’ll be different, and obviously teams aren’t going to there early. We tried to use the SEC tournament when we knew that it would be a postseason tournament like you would do where you got to be there a couple day early, which I think will change with the NCAA too, because of what we are doing now, and we could do it at any time. So, I don’t know if that will come up, and if you know you qualify for the tournament, why jeopardize it. It goes back to players want to play, and they want to play as many games as they can play. If you think about It right now, we’ve played 10 games, so we have 15 games left. At this point in time we would have normally played closer to 15 games, but my point is we want to play. Would they rather take a week off and practice – I can tell you that answer quick, No. They would tell you that they would much rather be in Nashville playing the tournament and it does mean something to go and try to win a SEC conference tournament championship. As we move forward, I don’t know the answer, but we’ve all be naïve to think that we we’re going through now, we didn’t think would happen. We knew that we would have some stoppage along the way, and I thought our football season worked through it the best way they could, and I think we will be in the same situation. Just like they played the SEC championship game, I like to think any at all possibility we will play a conference tournament.”

On how he thinks the home court advantage has changed this year, as well as going on the road:
“They are more similar than not now obviously. When you talk about Thompson-Boling, we have one of the best. I thought our crowd was great during the home games, and at the Arkansas game we probably had one the biggest crowds that we’ve had, and I don’t know what we had for the Alabama game, but we heard them I can tell you that. It’s more similar now than you would expect. I don’t know what it’ll be like with Vanderbilt. I felt like the noise the other day stayed on a bit longer at Missouri. It is very similar, and the crowd as you all know will pipe in noise level, so everyone can do it different. When we go, we are trying our best, and close contact is we are most concerned about, and I do think the arenas are more similar now. We just have to get ready to play, and we have to communicate better, I can tell you that.”

-UT Athletics