section D
Welcome Back
Friday, August 16, 2013
Donald Page • Tennessee Athletics
Jones ushers in modified mindset to Vols in 2013 Steven Cook Sports Editor How does a football program with a 5-19 Southeastern Conference record in the last three seasons enter the 2013 season with the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the country? The answer seems to be Butch Jones. Since the end of Tennessee’s Derek Dooley era, the oftenquestioned hiring in December of 2012 has turned into a movement that has completely altered expectations, confidence levels and the overall culture in Knoxville. “Throughout the years of coaching changes, the standard of which Tennessee is supposed to be at was lost,” senior defensive end Jacques Smith said. “Coach Jones brought it to our attention. “He’s definitely changed everyone’s mindset this offseason.” Offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, who gave up a likely secondor-third-round pick in last season’s NFL draft to play for Jones as a senior, praised his new coaching staff for the changes they’ve brought to the program. “It’s been a whole lot easier (to play for Jones),” James said. “They’re making it easier. They’re more personable. You almost feel like family, like you’ve known these guys for years, like they’ve recruited you.” For perspective, James was recruited by Lane Kiffin. It’s more than likely that a majority of the roster entered into the first player meeting skeptical of the former Cincinnati coach, who was not-so-quietly UT’s third or fourth choice in their late 2012 coaching search. However, Smith said it took only minutes for that skepticism to fade. See FOOTBALL on Page 2D
WHAT’S INSIDE:
• UT Athletics
Offensive lineman Antonio Richardson and teammates during spring football practice.
Lady Vols Softball, page 6D
Robert Hubbs III feature, page 3D
Butch Jones at Media Days, page 2D
2D • THE DAILY BEACON
Friday, August 16, 2013
SPORTS FOOTBALL continued from Page 1D
“As soon as he got off the plane, he came and spoke to our team to let us know that we’re going to change the culture around here,” he said. “He did that by coming in and introducing his family to let us know that we’re going to be unified, and [he said], ‘I need to know you guys just like you need to know me.’ “It was genuine and it spoke to the hearts of every player in that room, and I promise you it made a difference and it’ll make a difference on the field as well.” Jones said a big part of UT’s offseason resurgence has derived from his experienced and unified coaching staff. He brought most of his members from his Cincinnati staff, many of whom have SEC experience. “I didn’t have to coach a coaching staff,” Jones said. “They understand the values and the beliefs and the principles that we’re going to abide by.” From Central Michigan to Cincinnati and now at Tennessee, Jones and many of his assistants have gotten the hang of coaching changes; a blessing that Jones said has made a huge difference. “I think the transition has been seamless and I think we have relied upon those experience that we gained in the other two places we’ve been,” Jones said. Critics have said Jones’ lack of SEC experience will hurt him in recruiting and the once-questionable hiring would deflate an already desperate fan base. The critics have said the Vols won’t have nearly enough on-field talent to compete in the SEC in 2013, and they may be right. The Vols were voted to finish fifth out of seven in the SEC East by media before the season. Despite the critiques, Jones and his team have focused on chasing nonstop improvement, even in the wake of five of UT’s first eight games coming against teams that finished in the top 10 last season. “Well, you approach it one game at a time,” Jones said. “Not to sound like ‘coach speak,” but you coach it one day at a time, one game at a time. That’s why we have to focus on the process. It’s going to be a great challenge for our football team. It’s also going to be a tremendous, tremendous opportunity as well.”
Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Jones revels in first SEC Media Day showing Steven Cook Sports Editor
“We have to focus on the process,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said. “We can’t worry about the end result right now. We have to be a better football program minute by minute, hour by hour, day to day, month by month.” That was the message Jones relayed at the SEC Media Days event in July, and he plans to continue that focus in the impending football season. Jones was one of four coaches who experienced the three-day event for the first time. In his opening statement, he weighed in on the circus-style theme presented through the unofficial kickoff to SEC football. “The most asked question so far is, ‘how has your first SEC Media Days been?’” Jones said. “I’ll say what I’ve always said. When the SEC does something, it’s truly something special. It’s a spectacle, and that’s what makes it the best conference in the country.” Jones called the off-season’s coaching transition “extremely seamless,” and said the stability from his coaching staff played a big role when comparing his new job to his last two stops, Cincinnati and Central Michigan. “Well, the circumstances are different,” Jones said. “The situations are different, but the process and how you develop your football team doesn’t change. “I think that’s a great thing, not only for myself, but our entire staff. This is our third time taking over a football program.” Jones’ assurance that his staff has been here before has to unquestionably be relieving to a UT fan base that has endured four losing seasons in their last five. The journey back to national relevancy will not be easy as the Vols will face road tests in consecutive weeks when they travel to Oregon and Florida on Sept. 14 and Sept. 21. Week-by-week improvement will be essential if the Volunteers are entertaining the idea of reaching a bowl game after missing out on postseason play the past two seasons.
• UT Athletics
Butch Jones smiles while talking to members of the media at SEC Media Days on July 18. “The big thing again for us is constant and never-ending improvement,” Jones said. “We have to be a better football team week one, two, three. Those steps may be small, but we have to continue to progress.” Dealing with another coaching change—UT’s third in five years— was the big theme surrounding the Vols at the event. According to senior offensive lineman Ja’Wuan James, the team has responded much better to their new coach than recently departed Derek Dooley. “They’re making it easier,” James said. “You feel like you’ve known these guys for years. They’ve done a great job of making us feel at home. Just seeing them around the complex, you can tell it’s more of a genuine and personal level.” “Genuine” was a word used consistently by Tennessee’s student-athletes to describe their new coach. That includes senior defensive end Jacques
Smith, who told of his first encounter with Jones. “I was out in California and it was my birthday,” Smith said. “He calls me at six in the morning and is like ‘hey this is Coach Jones, happy birthday.’” Jones was hired just a week before when he made the call. “I wasn’t really expecting to meet him until I got back to Knoxville, and he calls me. I was like wow, I love him,” Smith said. Jones said a priority during his first offseason at the helm of UT has been establishing and imparting a championship standard into the program. That culture change has required a hefty amount of re-learning for the players, but Jones’ staff also has been included in the re-tooling and learning process. “I think the challenge of being a firstyear head coach in a program is, every day is a learning opportunity,” Jones said. “You’re learning more and more
about your football program.” The Vols will have to follow a “brickby-brick” slogan that has become Jones’ big point of emphasis since taking over the job in December. He used that mindset to elaborate on how UT will get back to the pinnacle of college football. “We talk about building a championship culture, working to get Tennessee football back to its rightful place among the elite of college football,” Jones said. “We talk about doing that brick by brick. “Every brick is symbolic of every individual in our football family and organization. It’s having clearly defined and articulated standards, expectations and values that are going to guide you on a day-to-day basis.” The first foundation from months of “brick-by-brick” additions will be revealed on Aug. 31 as UT opens up its season against Austin Peay in Neyland Stadium at 6 p.m.
Friday, August 16, 2013
SPORTS
THE DAILY BEACON • 3D Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon
Hubbs joins Vols while facing lofty expectations Steven Cook Sports Editor Another year, another blue-chip recruit with high expectations for the Tennessee men’s basketball team. Robert Hubbs III became head coach Cuonzo Martin’s second five-star recruit at Tennessee by choosing the Vols over Kentucky and Duke, two of the top four winningest college basketball programs. A product of Dyer County High School in Newbern, Tenn., Hubbs isn’t worried about proving his abilities. Instead of trying to live up to the lofty expectations, he’s only focused on helping his Vols win games. “I don’t think about all that stuff, I just got out and play my game and just have fun,” Hubbs said. “I just go out and do what I have to do. “I’m just here to work hard every day, continue to work hard every day and go out there and do what I have to do to help the team win.” That focus will be much needed for Martin’s team, who narrowly missed out on a NCAA tournament berth in each of his first two seasons at the helm. Hubbs gave Vol fans a first glimpse in the Pilot Rocky Top League this summer, playing alongside a majority of UT’s current roster and a handful of former players. To go along with averaging 22 points per contest and a 52.9 shooting percentage, Hubbs also showcased his arsenal of high-flying, acrobatic dunks. “Coming out here, you just want to show the fans what you look like,” Hubbs said. “It’s not really
too serious, but it’s just a good time to put on a show for the fans and do well.” The 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard sees an ideal mentor on the roster in rising senior Jordan McRae. The Vols guard has a nearly identical body frame to Hubbs, and the newcomer’s skill set will play a huge role in replacing the first team All-SEC star who is entering his last year of eligibility. “Hubbs is going to be a vital piece to what we’ll be doing next year,” McRae said. “Having somebody like Hubbs on the floor, you can’t really come off of him or he’ll blow past you. “When I was 17, I wasn’t nearly as good as he is at 17, so just having someone who he can look up to and knows it hopefully will help him to become a great player. The sky is the limit for him.” Hubbs will finally turn 18 on August 19, two days before the first day of classes. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beacon, Martin talked up his incoming player, maintaining his best abilities are to score and that Hubbs aggression will be key on both ends of the floor. “I expect him to be a very talented guy and a major piece to what we do as a team,” Martin said. “But as far as how much he scores or how many shots he takes a game, that has everything to do with Robert and the system so to speak. “It’s hard to put a number (of points per game) on a guy because you don’t know how teams will defend you, but I think he’ll be ready and excited to go.” The Vols will welcome Hubbs onto a team dripping with experience. Three of the team’s top four scorers return, and former second-team All-SEC power forward Jeronne Maymon will make his return after sitting out all of last season.
4D • THE DAILY BEACON
Friday, August 16, 2013
SPORTS Lady Vols enjoy continued national relevancy Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Scott Carter Staff Writer Two highly touted freshmen have arrived on campus to replace two departing seniors, and now the members of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team have begun preparations for the 2013-2014 season. To put it simply, head coach Holly Warlick’s Lady Vols will have a lot to prove next season. While last year they appeared to be underdogs, this season they are ranked third nationally in ESPN’s preseason rankings and will have to fight vigorously to keep themselves perched at the top. “It’s where we’ve been trying to get, and now it’s where we are,” Warlick said. “It doesn’t matter where we’re ranked, though, because everyone wants to beat Tennessee, so we have to prove ourselves.” The most noticeable difference in this team next season will be the personnel shifts. Last season’s seniors Kamiko Williams and Taber Spani graduated, and junior Jasmine Phillips has transferred. Working to replace departing players, Tennessee’s staff developed a recruiting class for next season. However, yet another unexpected departure has affected this team. Expected recruit Jannah Tucker has announced she will not be attending Tennessee. The offseason changes haven’t phased the Lady Vols, according to Meighan Simmons, a senior and Lady Vols guard. “The new players have come in and been just as hungry as we are,” said Simmons, who notched a first team All-SEC selection last season. “It’s just building on what we had last year.” Simmons also said the unexpected roster turnover will allow youthful newcomers and savvy veterans to rise to the occasion. “(The bench) takes a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Simmons said, “because at any time, anyone can step up.” While the Lady Vols boasted a relatively young team last season, many of those young players are now upperclassmen and ready to step up. One of which is Simmons, the team’s lone senior who was voted as the coaches SEC co-player of the year in 2013. “I just want to lead everyone in the right direction,” Simmons said. Junior Ariel Massengale and sophomore Bashaara Graves are spending the summer with USA Basketball team, and Warlick feels that their experience will bring leadership and skill to the team next season. “I think Ariel is going to have to learn and share the playing time,” Warlick said. “As a leader, she is going to be able to use that to support when she is not playing. When you are involved in different roles like that, you become a better leader.” Junior Cierra Burdick said while there may be some changes in game strategy, the team will be sticking with the traditionally hard-nosed press defense. “Putting the ball in the basket has never been a problem for this team,” said Burdick, who averaged
8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest last season despite suffering a fractured finger on her right hand that kept her out a month. “But the problem we run into is we can’t get the stops when we need to. So no matter the offensive power we have, we need to keep the emphasis on defense and rebounding because that is what’s going to win us a ninth national championship.” While the team plans to stick to the defensive plan, Simmons said there will be some added fire to her game this year after registering a third team All-American selection from the Associated Press last season. “You will probably see a different Meighan this year,” Simmons said. “I’m going back to my freshman year where I’m so hungry. “When I can’t sleep, I go to the gym. You’ll see me smiling a lot more, because I’m going to enjoy it. It’s my last year, and I’m going to have fun.” Since the NCAA Women’s Final Four will be held in Nashville, Tenn. this season, the Lady Vols will have an added home state advantage if they can make it to the national semifinal round. Fan support has continually been an advantage to a Lady Vols program that usually leads the nation in attendance in women’s college basketball. “I think the fan support will be huge,” • UT Athletics Warlick said. “Wherever we go, we have the biggest fan base. I think the hard part is Guard Meighan Simmons, the team’s only senior, says she is ready “to lead everyone in the right direction.” getting there at the Elite Eight.” In order to get to the championship, however, the Lady Vols have a long road ahead of them. With competition in women’s basketball increasing across the country, Burdick was quick to point out some teams who stood out nationally. “Duke and Connecticut are two key powerhouses this year, and UConn only lost two players from the national championship team,” Burdick said. “So they are going to be competitive teams if we happen to play them.” Warlick said the competition in the Southeastern Conference is a hefty challenge within itself. “I think Kentucky, with their style of play, and South Carolina is going to be good this year,” Warlick said. “It’s just a tough conference, and it is a hard conference to play on the road.” This Lady Volunteers team wants to make their intentions for this season clear to their opponents and their fans. “We’re gonna lay everything on the line every day and we are going to work to get that number nine (championship), because it’s been a while,” Burdick said. Simmons agreed, adding, “It’s time for nine.” • UT Athletics
Head coach Holly Warlick talks to the team during their NCAA tournament Elite Eight match-up against the Louisville Cardinals on April 2, 2013.
Friday, August 16, 2013
THE DAILY BEACON • 5D
SPORTS
Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Fickey provides clutch leadership for tennis Vols “I t really didn’t cross my mind that the season would’ve been over or not. I was just taking it point-by-point, playing the match and taking it for what it was worth.”
-Brandon Fickey
Matthew DeMaria • The Daily Beacon
Brandon Fickey during a tennis match between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Steven Cook Sports Editor In the biggest moment of the 2012-13 season for Tennessee’s men’s tennis team, then sophomore Brandon Fickey found himself in a familiar position. With a spot in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 on the line against Clemson on May 11, Fickey was the only Vol still on the court as the teams were knotted up at 3-3. His battle with Gerardo Meza, then entering its third set, would decide whose national title hopes stayed alive. Earlier in the season against Wake Forest, Fickey found himself in a strikingly similar scenario. With both teams tied at 3-3, the entire match came down to his tennis racket. He would go down 5-3 in the third set before rallying to give his team the win. Fickey said that experience from earlier in the season kept him from thinking about the moment’s magnitude. “It really didn’t cross my mind that the season would’ve been over or not,” Fickey said. “I was just taking it point-by-point, playing the match and taking it for what it was worth.” UT players lined up on the out-of-bounds line next to Fickey’s court
with their arms draped around each other, anxiously waiting for a moment with an unforseeable outcome. “I was just enjoying the moment,” Fickey said. “We had a pretty good crowd, too, the whole inside was pretty electrifying.” As if that moment was not big enough, it was his first match back since a shoulder injury that derailed his 0-7 SEC season and kept him out more than a month. A cortisone shot allowed Fickey to return for the NCAA tournament to perform in a moment that an entire season depended on. Fickey would go down 2-0 in the third and final set before taking off. His 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 victory ended Clemson’s season. “I like when the spotlight is on a little bit,” Fickey said. “I enjoy that, and I think that helped me get through.” The Vols would move on to beat SEC foe Mississippi State before losing to eventual national champion Virginia in the quarterfinals. “We talk about being `Tennessee tough,’ and I think we’ve got a guy over there in Brandon Fickey who epitomizes that,” UT head coach Sam Winterbotham said after the Clemson win. “It had been a month out (since he last played), his shoulder has bothered him the whole year, and he comes through when we needed it the most.” A Knoxville native and graduate of Webb High School, Fickey fol-
lows in the footsteps of royalty. Former Vol Rhyne Williams, also from Knoxville, was the nation’s top-ranked player and now competes on the Grand Slam circuit at events like Wimbledon and the French Open. “Rhyne and Taylor Patrick had a big influence on my decision to come (to UT),” Fickey said. “ [And] just seeing how well they did and how they thrived in the program. How they loved wearing the orange, that was a big selling point to me.” Fickey admitted it takes a reality check every now and then when he sees the success that Williams and John-Patrick Smith are having in their professional careers. “It’s kind of surreal. One day you’re practicing with them and joking around, then the next day they’re making pretty good money on the major level with Grand Slams,” Fickey said. “So it’s very cool that they’re doing well.” After a promising 2012-13 campaign, the Vols look to continue as the top-ranked men’s team on UT’s campus. But next season, like seasons past, is about winning it all. “We always label that as our goal, winning the national championship, and we don’t really want to settle for less,” Fickey said. “We’ve got our top four back, and some great players coming in. We have to set the bar high and we’re going to look to do good things.”
6D • THE DAILY BEACON
Friday, August 16, 2013
SPORTS
Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon
Ellen Renfroe pitches against Alabama on March 23, 2011.
Lady Vols shine in NCAAs despite deadly tornadoes McCord Pagan Staff Writer While many students enjoyed a welldeserved rest from classes in early June, the Lady Vols softball team traveled to Oklahoma City for a run at the Women’s World College Series. Starting the season, the Lady Vols had only one goal in mind. “The goal is always the same, the national championship,” said co-head
Softball coach Karen Weekly. Weekly, who has coached at UT for the last 12 years, brought her team to the championship series for the third time in four years. They even had to endure a series of deadly tornadoes that stopped play for a whole day. “I thought we did a good job of forgetting about it the next morning,” senior shortstop Madison Shipman said. “We tried to not to let it affect our play.” With several players hailing from California, the tornado was a very new experience for the team, yet the coaching staff
led the Vols through it all and provided constant reassurance to the team. “We had a meeting after where the coaches asked us ‘How do you feel’ and we all just said that we still want to win, and that it is not going to shake us,” junior infielder Hannah Akamine said. Despite the bad weather, Weekly kept her cool and successfully kept her team focused on the games at hand. “It was a nerve-wracking night to say the least, but I thought we rebounded very well the next day and got focused and got back to playing softball,” Weekly said. Shipman was also grateful for the effort shown by their coach. “The coaches were really good, four hours before we had a meeting about the tornadoes, the plan for the night and what to bring to the parking garage,” she said. Despite the tornadoes, the team got back on its feet and competed against some of the top programs in the country.
“We knew we had a good team, a very talented team, and experienced team and that it was a matter of developing good team chemistry, leadership and toughness,” Weekly said. The Lady Vols dominated rival Florida 9-2 in the WCWS opener, while the second game against Washington was a much closer, 1-0 victory. The team gutted out another 1-0 win over Texas to clinch a spot in a threegame series against Oklahoma for the national title. “Texas was a really hard game. The pitcher kept us on our toes, it was not a cakewalk,” Akamine said. A Game 1 defeat against Oklahoma was a crushing blow for the Lady Vols, who led in extra innings and came just one pitch away from clinching the opener before losing. They would go on to lose by four runs in Game 2, which clinched the title for the Sooners. “We felt they left everything they had on the field and fought to the very end,” Weekly said. Through it all, the Lady Vols Softball team had plenty of support from back home, with constant backing from those unable to make it. And when the team finally got back to Knoxville, they were greeted with nothing but love from the entire athletic department.
“Our fans are awesome, some of them traveled all the way to Oklahoma to see us,” Shipman said. Akamine had a similar assessment, as she became emotional at seeing the Vol Nation greet her and her teammates, even though the outcome was not what they expected. “The football, basketball teams and all the coaches were all sitting there at the bus stop waiting for us,” she said. Weekly was similarly blown away by the support and positivity shown to the team at their return, and was overwhelmed by the love demonstrated by UT. “We were getting emails and text messages and tweets, Facebook posts and all kinds of things, and you hear about it,” Weekly said. “But I don’t think we realized we had captivated the Knoxville community and the state of Tennessee until we came home and had a police escort from the airport to the softball stadium. “There were 150 people, maybe more waiting to greet us and celebrate. Butch Jones, Cuonzo Martin, and Dave Hart, several other coaches. When our girls saw that it was very emotional, it made them realize how many people were living and dying the experience with them and so proud of them.” Even though the first game of 2013-14 isn’t for several months, the softball team is already looking forward to next year. “Our goal at Tennessee is always the same. Every year we want to be in Oklahoma City competing for a national championship and that never changes,” Weekly said.
Friday, August 16, 2013
THE DAILY BEACON • 7D
SPORTS
Sports Editor Steven Cook
scook21@utk.edu
Football requires tempered expectations David Cobb Staff Writer New coach? New quarterback? No problem, right? Just ask the 2010 national champion Auburn team, or last year’s Texas A&M squad that marched into Tuscaloosa and took down the eventual national champion. Both are examples of teams that flourished in the situation Tennessee currently finds itself in. Add that Texas A&M was playing in a new conference and it’s even more impressive what the Aggies were able to do under conditions that most consider conducive to rebuilding. But let’s take a shot in the dark and assume that the 2013 Tennessee quarterback — whoever he may be — won’t hoist the Heisman Trophy in December like Cam Newton and Johnny Manziel did for their respective teams above. Making assumptions is bad journalism. But that’s a safe one.
exiting for the NFL. And the worst defense since the 1893 team that gave up 56 points to Kentucky is returning eight of its starters. All of that historical context shows you where the program used to be, but also just how quickly it nosedived. A bowl appearance for Vanderbilt is cause for celebration. At Ole Miss it’s not as special; but it’s usually a respected feat. At Tennessee bowl berths are a given. Or at least they should be. They are for anyone who followed the program before Dooley took over. So there’s two ways to measure success. One way is to base it on program pride and history, and the other is to swallow some pride and use the yard sticks of your foes that have tread the water before you. Tennessee fans must do the latter during the 2013 season, just like they did during Derek
“So, perhaps immediate success isn’t impossible for
Butch Jones and Justin Worley... It just requires that the beholder exercise a gauge of success that Tennessee traditionalists loathe.
Where, then, does that leave the Vols in comparison with their SEC brethren that have recently been in the same situation? Well, it’s not as bad as you might presume. Ole Miss improved from 2-10 in 2011 to 7-6 last year with first year coach Hugh Freeze, and a previously unknown gunslinger from Giles County named Bo Wallace under center. Likewise, Vanderbilt rebounded from a 2-10 campaign to go 6-7 in 2012 – seventh loss in a bowl game – in head coach James Franklin’s second season while a green Jordan Rodgers adjusted to life as a QB in the SEC. Those teams weren’t nearly the success stories that Auburn and Texas A&M were, but they’re examples of instant improvement in the nation’s toughest league. So, perhaps immediate success isn’t impossible for Butch Jones and Justin Worley (or Nathan Peterman, Joshua Dobbs and Riley Ferguson). It just requires that the beholder exercise a gauge of success that Tennessee traditionalists loathe. On Dec. 1, 2007, Tennessee was a score away from winning the SEC championship game. Ten months later, then-athletic director Mike Hamilton decided that playing for the conference title every three years wasn’t good enough and fired Phillip Fulmer. Three years later, Vol fans were ecstatic to make the Music City Bowl. Since that moment in 2010, Tennessee football has, quite frankly, been a complete joke on the field. Now, the program is coming off three losing seasons for the first time in over 100 years. Jones is entering. The team’s only offensive playmakers are
Dooley’s first year when the team rallied late to make the Music City Bowl. If Jones can pull off what Freeze and Franklin did in their first years and take the Vols to a 6-6 record in 2013, he might deserve to be SEC Coach of the Year. A .500 record would likely keep the marvelous recruiting class of 2014 that Jones is assembling happy. But it’s going to require the emergence of veterans like Rajion Neal as leaders in what should be a vastly improved running game behind a rock solid offensive line. It’s going to require an epiphany on the part of a secondary, which successfully made Troy look like the New England Patriots. It’s going to require that someone be able to kick a field goal longer than 35 yards. It’s going to require students actually attending games, imploring UT to wins over teams like Western Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Talk about swallowing your pride. So the answer to the question is, wrong. There’s a new coach and a new quarterback, but UT faces its fair share of problems heading into the season. Don’t let unreasonable fan expectation be another one. Acknowledge that if the Vols can follow in the footsteps of the recent Vanderbilt and Ole Miss teams and become bowl eligible in a transition year, then Jones will have accomplished an incredible feat. David Cobb is a junior in journalism and electronic media. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidWCobb.
Excitement abounds for basketball Vols
Troy Provost-Heron Staff Writer The NCAA men’s college basketball season doesn’t tip-off until November, but as the summer winds down, Vol fans should be nothing short of excited for their team to hit the court. Yes, I fully understand that football season is nigh. A lot of good things should be expected from the Butch Jones era. Just not this year. But this upcoming basketball season has the potential to be something extremely special. Now if you’re wondering how I could possibly be so excited for basketball when the echoes of Neyland Stadium have been calling ever since Butch Jones’ hiring, I’ll start with the most obvious reason—talent is abounding on this team’s roster. Not only is Jarnell Stokes returning to Knoxville after a fantastic sophomore campaign last year (Stokes recorded 16 double-doubles last year), but senior forward Jeronne Maymon, a 2011-2012 All-SEC second team performer, will also be back in the orange and white after he missed all of the 2012-2013 season due to a left knee injury that earned him an extra year of eligibility. In my opinion, that’s the best frontcourt in the SEC. I’ll admit, the backcourt does have some proving to do. Other than All-SEC first teamer Jordan McRae, the only sure thing is that junior guard Josh Richardson is going to continue to be one of the best two-way players on the team. Armani Moore should continue to provide lock down defense, but his offensive game was far from impressive last year. D’Montre Edwards, Derek Reese and Quinton Chievous all had productive moments last year, but consistency from this bunch will be essential for a Tennessee team that is looking to return to the NCAA tournament after a two-year hiatus. And then there are the newcomers. As the nation’s No. 23 overall recruit, Robert Hubbs III will headline the class and will be expected to fulfill the lofty expectations lavished upon the 18-year-old from Dyer County. While Hubbs is the highly-touted recruit, Darius Thompson and Memphis transfer
Antonio Barton may be the most influential to the Vols’ success. Both will most likely be asked to play a lion’s share of the minutes at the point guard position after former Vol Trae Golden transferred from the program this summer. Junior college transfer Pops Ndiaye and freshman A.J. Davis will also look to make their mark on this upcoming season. There’s no doubt in my mind that the talent is there. This may be the best roster that Vols have had since 2007, a year where Tennessee went 31-5, won the SEC outright for the first time in 41 years and achieved the school’s first ever No. 1 ranking. But all the talent in the world means nothing though if the coaching staff can’t create a plan to help this group execute and succeed. So if the talent isn’t enough for you to believe, consider the fact that head coach Cuonzo Martin’s seat is already a little warm. If they don’t perform this year, that seat will become uncomfortably hot. I like Martin. He has done everything you could ask him to do with the mess he was handed. And to be fair, he has gotten snubbed from at least one, if not both NCAA tournaments appearances. But if he doesn’t win this year, I think it may be time for a change, especially if Stokes decides to forego his senior season. I fully believe that this team won’t be worrying if they will get into “The Big Dance,” but instead will be talking about the possibility of earning a higher seed. I’m not saying that this team is going to win a national title, reach the Final Four or even the Elite Eight, but winning the SEC Championship is definitely a possibility. And if an SEC title is on the table, who’s to say those aforementioned accomplishments couldn’t take place. Crazier things have happened. Troy Provost-Heron is a sophomore in journalism and electronic media. He can be reached at tprovost@utk.edu.
8D • THE DAILY BEACON
Friday, August 16, 2013