By: Jake Hubbard Senior Staff Writer, Junior Editor, Co-Host The All Vol Call in Show 20230726 Kamal Hadden is a name that was tossed around in a slew of contexts last season. I initially said that Hadden was the best man defender that Tennessee had, and I truly believed that. I also, out of anger, cursed his name after the combination of poor play and careless behavior in the devastating loss to South Carolina. However, I still think that the former could ring true and carry over to the 2023 season. I believe in Josh Heupel and I believe above all else, he does what is best for the football team. I think that Kamal Hadden has all the pieces to be a magnificent ballplayer in the SEC, and I hope that he supports this theory with his on field performance in the upcoming season. Hear me out: I love a player that plays with heart and gives 100%. However, just like everything else, there is a time and place for it. Make a big time interception, knock a guy on his tail, or sack the QB from behind; it’s all yours, celebrate and jaw a little. When you get burnt, put your head down and get back to work. Despite the knucklehead jawing against South Carolina, mixed with a few busts throughout the season, Hadden was a dang good player. For reference, Hadden finished the season 6 th in total tackles, led the team in interceptions, and added 3 pass deflections and a fumble recovery. I truly believe that if Kamal Hadden channels that passion, and uses that enthusiasm to not only better himself but to better the team. I think Hadden will be a big asset to this defense and that we will see a much more humble, electric player wearing #5.

By: Jake Hubbard Senior Staff Writer, Junior Editor, Co-Host 20230718 The year is 2018: Tennessee is in the dark days… we do not speak about those. Joe Milton III is was a three-star prospect out of Florida. Milton had some big time offers from multiple powerhouses, due to his God-given athleticism and having a ceiling higher than Snoop Dogg mid April. Ultimately, Milton found a home in Ann Arbor, and enrolled in January 2018. Fast forward to 2020. Joe Milton finds himself as the starter at the esteemed University of Michigan. Again, with great talent and play making ability…the sky was the limit for Milton. With such comes great expectations. As a starter at Michigan, Milton did not necessarily meet those expectations. After a rough outing in a lopsided loss to Wisconsin, Milton found himself sliding the wrong way in the depth charts. Of note, when Milton was pulled, there are reports of him shaking his head in frustration, disbelief, and/or disagreement. This is where Milton’s path takes a turn. He finished out the season behind Cade McNamara, and decides to take his talents elsewhere, south to Knoxville. When Milton arrived on Rocky Top, the hype arrived soon thereafter. A big bodied quarterback, a threat in the run game, and an arm that can throw a football across the state, Vol Nation was excited for this guy. After a strenuous QB battle, Milton again found himself atop the depth charts, and got the nod from Heupel to start the 2021 season. Milton played decent in his first couple of games in orange… and decent may be a bit of an overstatement. On paper, Milton went 32/62 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That 51% completion percentage was almost unbearable to watch. His footwork was poor, decision making wasn’t the best, and we all know about the overthrows. Injury or not, Hendon Hooker was going to take away that starting position. He did, and never gave Milton a sniff of the starting spot again. This is where Milton stands out to me and many others. Milton saw Hooker take the starting spot. Instead of pulling away and looking to transfer, which he had already done once in his career, Milton kept true to what he believed in…the Vols. Milton became one of the most supportive, positive, and hardworking teammates I remember seeing on Rocky Top. He was the first one congratulating Hooker on a great throw, he was electric in his appearances as a backup, and he loved playing ball for the University of Tennessee. He and Hooker became best friends, roommates, and I believe that Milton took tremendous strides as a quarterback while maintaining his position as a backup. As a relief/late season starter (after Hooker’s injury) in 2022, Milton looked like a different player. He was more accurate, he had more finesse on the short ball, his footwork was cleaned up, he was the Milton that he was advertised as. He took his completion percentage to 64%, threw for 10 more TDs, and he still has yet to throw an interception in orange. He took the lead in the Orange Bowl and looked tremendous, throwing for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns. He looked comfortable, and he made it look easy. The hype surrounding Joe Milton is real. Does he still have some things to prove? Absolutely. Does Milton have some doubters to hush? Yes. Is he a Heisman candidate? Could be, who knows. Should Vol Nation be worried? No chance.

By: Dallas Bowlin Senior Staff Writer, Junior Editor, Junior Producer, Co-Host The All Vol Call in Show 20230718 On December 14, 2019, Doneiko Slaughter made his pledge to Tennessee, just one day after de-committing from the Arizona Sun Devils. According to Rivals, Slaughter’s stock had been rising prior to his commitment to Tennessee. Slaughter's senior season footage revealed a player with a nose for the ball and a desire to hit, which is certainly a must for a guy named ”Slaughter.” The ability to play the deep ball was mentioned as a necessary improvement for him. Did he improve? As a true freshman, Slaughter appeared in all ten games and made one start at STAR. He recorded eight tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack on the season. He set a career-high with three tackles against Kentucky. Was the Vols' sole true freshman starter during the 2020 season. Slaughter appeared in 11 games as a reserve defensive back and on special teams as a sophomore. He tied his career tackle record three times (Alabama, Missouri, and Pittsburgh), but he did not make any starts in the 2021 season. His junior season was his most fruitful, as he started 12 games, led the team in pass breakups with seven, and had one interception and one fumble recovery. His greatest game of the season arguably came in the Vols' Orange Bowl victory over Clemson, where he started at cornerback and had five solo tackles, and a career-best (and game-high) three pass breakups. Now, as one of the best defenders on Tennessee's team this season, he has a chance to make a splash in the conference and nationally. Slaughter's progress as a player, as well as his patience and willingness to wait his turn, provides a positive message to those waiting in the wings for their opportunity to play.

By: John Dunn Founder, Managing Editor, Producer, Host The All Vol Call in Show 20230717 It's just around the corner. If you take a deep breath, you can almost smell it; it's football time in Tennessee. Following its most successful season in nearly two decades, Tennessee is yet again blanketed with expectations of success. But, why? Because they had one good year in the last 20? Because they finally beat Alabama again? Because the program is on stable footing? Or is it because the NCAA investigation has finally concluded, and the team can finally focus on football? The answer is: all of this, and more. If you were to ask someone born after 1998 what they know about Tennessee football, the answer would likely depress you. "They've had a couple of good years, but they're not very good." "I heard they used to be good." "My dad and grandpa said that Tennessee used to be really good at football." "Why are they so hyped up every year?" These are just some examples of responses which you may hear. Unfortunately, the current generation of football fans have absolutely no idea what the Volunteers mean to the landscape of college football. Instant gratification culture, recency bias, and lack of recent major success have made Tennessee look like a lower-tier SEC school in the eyes of the current generation, which coincidentally is right around the age (18-20) of current recruits. So, how does Josh Heupel and company sell the university to potential players? The answer to this is simple: a history of excellence. "What have you done for me lately?" is a typical response when the history of Tennessee is brought up. However, it's extremely important for a few reasons. History reveals trends, and as we've all heard, "history is destined to repeat itself," which is true. "Why are patters in trends important?" because we are at the point to where that history is starting to repeat itself for Tennessee. Phillip Fulmer was the last Tennessee head coach to bring consistent success to the football program. In his first season in 1993, Fulmer led the Vols to a 10-2 record before posting an 8-4 mark in his second season in an absolutely stacked SEC. However, in his third year, the same season in which current head coach Josh Heupel finds himself, Fulmer led Tennessee to an 11-1 season with a Citrus Bowl victory over Ohio State. Following a successful 11-2 campaign in 2022, the Vols find themselves poised for another good season. Two-time defending national champion Georgia still holds the pole position in the east, however, the Vols showed last season that they are gunning for the top spot in the division. With Alabama and LSU battling for control of the west, Tennessee finds itself in a great position to make a deep run yet again inside an extremely competitive conference. The absolute floor for Tennessee feels like 8-4, with a ceiling of potentially going undefeated. It's been a very long time since you could say with any form of seriousness that the Vols could go undefeated. But, it's true. They could. It's a very familiar, yet unfamiliar, feeling. For those of us that remember the glory days, this is how it used to feel every single year. But for those who have never experienced Tennessee being a good football team -- buckle up. It's a wild ride..

By: Dallas Bowlin Senior Staff Writer/ Junior Editor The All Vol Call In Show Following Tennessee baseball’s disappointing season-ending loss to LSU in the College World Series, many Volunteer fans were left asking a familiar question: What exactly went wrong? A seemingly popular response to that question is one that is all too common among sports fans: It's the coach's fault. Whether it's Rick Barnes' team losing a very winnable game to Florida Atlantic in the NCAA Tournament or Josh Heupel's team appearing lost and uninspired versus South Carolina in the regular season, there is always blame thrown at the head man's feet, and sometimes that guilt is fair, and sometimes the reality resides in an uncomfortable truth: sometimes your team isn't good enough. Tennessee finishes the season as the country's second-highest ERA (earned run average) team, with 568.0 innings pitched and an ERA of 3.63. Tennessee was statistically one of the greatest pitching teams in the country. LSU, on the other hand, had the sixteenth-best batting average in the country, the seventh-most hits, and the second-most home runs. Simply speaking, LSU had one of the top batting teams in the country. The Volunteers were dealt a terrible draw in the college world series in all reality. Tennessee was already behind the eight-ball when it faced LSU and potentially the finest pitcher in the country in Paul Skenes in its first game in Omaha. If the Vols had gotten lucky and avoided having to run the gauntlet after losing game one, they might still be in the tournament. There aren't many excuses to be made in the second game. Tennessee faced a mediocre Tigers pitching staff that was missing its top three pitchers, but the Vols were unable to generate any offense. Tennessee’s tally of six hits was three fewer than their average. That is simply inexcusable given the pitching staff they faced. Back to the fundamental topic: is this loss on Tony Vitello? Many fans, in my opinion, will be disappointed with the answer: yes and no. Vitello undoubtedly committed some errors. Beam was possibly pulled from the mound a little too soon. Same with Russell, who struck out three batters in a row, and possibly Halvorsen, who didn't get much of a chance at all. Vitello, on the other hand, is not to blame for a terrible batting performance. Vitello is not to blame for losing a very easy ball to field and sabotaging a potential double play. As I stated in the first paragraph, it is quite simple. Sometimes your team isn't up to the task. And on that night, Tennessee wasn’t up to the task. Photo Above | A to Z Sports

By: Jordan Moore Senior Staff Writer The All Vol Call In Show One of the top priorities for Rick Barnes & his coaching staff during the transfer portal window was Chris Ledlum, a six-foot-six-inch 225 lbs forward from Harvard University. How big of a priority was he? Not even twenty-four hours after the Vols were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, he received a visit from the coaching staff in Boston. Coming out of the high school ranks, not only was Ledlum considered to be one the best basketball players in the country, but he was also highly recruited to play football as a tight end. According to Rivals.com, he was ranked as a four-star player & the 80th-best prospect nationally, winning the 2019 Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year award in basketball. He had multiple power five scholarship offers including ones from the ACC, BIG 10, BIG 12, & the SEC. How did a player of this caliber end up at Harvard? Ledlum took academics seriously when choosing his college destination as he only took official visits to three colleges: Yale, Georgetown, & Harvard. As a freshman at Harvard, Ledlum was used in a reserve role coming off the bench, as he only averaged 16.1 minutes in 29 games. Given the context, he played well as he averaged 7.3 points & 3.8 rebounds while shooting 42.1 % from the floor, 27.3% from three, & 61.8 % at the free throw line. He scored in double figures ten times. His sophomore season in 2020-2021 never got started as the Ivy League decided to cancel its basketball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his junior season, Ledlum was poised to break out. However, Ledlum never got the chance, tearing the labrum in his hip. He tried to play through the injury during the first 13 games of the season, averaging 16.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, & 1.7 steals while shooting 42.8% from the floor, 31.5% from three, & 69% from the free throw line. Unfortunately, the injury got worse, eventually leading to a sports hernia & groin tear that ended his season. Ledlum would bounce back from his injury in a big way during his senior campaign earning First Team All-Ivy League honors while averaging 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, & 1.8 steals a game. He shot 47.3% from the floor, 29.4 % from three, & 63.6% from the free throw line. Offensive Breakdown When you turn on the film of Chris Ledlum and see his physical frame along with how he plays the game of basketball, Grant Williams comes to mind. I’m not saying Ledlum will end up the SEC Player of the Year, or that he will even be a first-round NBA draft pick, but he is going to surprise a lot of Vol fans next season. As a senior, 61.1% of his shot attempts came inside the painted area and he made 56.6% of those, close to 5% above the national average. On the surface, his three-point percentage isn’t great (29.4%), but with a closer look, you see that from 22-25 feet (the college three-point line distance is 22 feet) he made 34.1% on 82 attempts. Outside of 25 feet, he shot an abysmal 22.7% on 42 attempts. When looking at Shot Quality, he ranked in the 62nd percentile in points per possession at 1.11. His possession percentage was considered “great” at 38% & his rim/three rate was 90%. Ledlum is also considered one of the best rebounders in the country, averaging 8.5 per game which put him at 60th nationally. An underrated aspect of Ledlum’s game is his ability to draw fouls, he was in the top 200 in free throw attempts at 173 which would have led all Vols this past season. When digging into his offensive game, you can clearly see where Rick Barnes plans to utilize Ledlum in his motion offense which is predicated on getting the ball inside early & often. I look for him to start at the four spots in this offense & be the consistent post scorer the Vols have been lacking in recent seasons. Defensive Breakdown On the defensive side of the floor, his metrics aren’t great but he did lead the Crimson in defensive BPR (Bayesian Performance Rating; quantifies how effective a player is, using advanced box-score metrics, play-by-play data, and historical information) at 1.30, this would have ranked ninth on the Vols roster this past season. The best aspect of his game is his ability to create steals & deflections. He was 76th nationally in steals per game. Ledlum also has the ability to block shots, recording 31 swats. That would've put him second for Tennessee last season. Ledlum also pulled in 165 defensive rebounds, 32 more than the best defensive rebounder for Rick Barnes, who prides his teams on being great rebounders. There is clearly room for improvement as a one-on-one defender but where he lacks in that aspect of his game he makes up for in hustle plays. Photo above | Yahoo Sports Shot charts | CBBAnalytics

By: Dallas Bowlin Senior Staff Writer/ Junior Editor The All Vol Call In Show On February 6th, 2019, Darnell Wright committed to Tennessee and then-Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt. The five-star offensive tackle selected Tennessee over offers from West Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama, and was dubbed the "best-unsigned recruit" a the time, by Sports Illustrated. Wright started seven games as a freshman, five at right tackle and two at right guard. The Volunteers finished with an 8-5 record, including a dramatic comeback victory over Indiana in the Gator Bowl. Wright did not get to experience the complete college football experience during his sophomore season (2020), as the season was cut short and Tennessee only played league opponents. He started nine games, helping his team to achieve a season-high 540 total yards of offense against in-state foe Vanderbilt. The Vols went on to end with a 3-7 record, the program's lowest win total since 1924. Wright announced his intentions to return to Tennessee in the offseason following the 2020 season, which the majority of the fans and media considered surprising given that he had never announced his plans to join the transfer portal. Tennessee lost several players that offseason, including Wanya Morris, Eric Gray, Henry To'o To'o, and Quavaris Crouch, when Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired due to NCAA violations. He started all 13 games at left tackle for first-year head coach Josh Heupel in 2021, tallying a team-high 922 snaps. That Tennessee team set numerous program offensive records, including the most points (511), and total offensive yards (6,174 ). Wright played 89 snaps against top-ranked Georgia without allowing a single sack or quarterback hit. He demonstrated during his senior season that he was not only one of the best SEC offensive linemen, but one of the best offensive linemen in the country, earning unanimous first-team All-SEC honors, starting all 13 games at right tackle, and dominating Alabama's Will Anderson Jr. as the Vols went on to win a potentially program-changing game against the Crimson Tide. Wright went on to be the tenth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, becoming the Volunteers' first top-ten pick since Eric Berry in 2010 and the fifth since 1999. Darnell Wright’s climb to a top-ten pick in the NFL Draft should help Coach Heupel greatly on the recruiting trail and bring Tennessee one step closer to being able to compete with the best in college football once again. Photo above | 247Sports

By: Jordan Moore Senior Staff Writer The All Vol Call In Show As the clock wound down to the end of another college basketball season, one phrase continued to run through my mind: “Defense wins championships.” When I was a kid, that phrase was preached by every coach in America, but is that still true in today’s sports landscape? UConn became the eighth straight college basketball team to win a national title with a higher offensive efficiency rating than its defensive efficiency rating. 22 out of the last 28 national title-winning teams can say the same. If the goal for your program is to win a national title in college basketball, having a top offense in the nation is very important. When looking at Rick Barnes’ teams over the last decade you quickly see his teams have had some struggles on the offensive end. Since 2013, Barnes coached teams have been ranked inside the KenPom Top 35 offensive efficiency twice (2019 and 2022). It’s not a coincidence that those were two of his most successful teams on Rocky Top. The 2019 squad spent multiple weeks as the number-one-ranked team in the country and finished with an impressive overall record of 31-6, and was seconds away from the program's second-ever Elite Eight. The 2022 team will forever be remembered as the first to bring home an SEC Tournament championship since 1979, they did exit prematurely in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing with an overall record of 27-8. I wrote an article just a few weeks ago discussing what went wrong with the 2022-2023 squad. I won’t go over all of that again, but the gist of it was the lack of offensive power or athleticism, primarily at the guard position and forward positions. The team finished 64th in offensive efficiency and had only one player on the roster that shot over 35% three (Santiago Vescovi) as a team they shot 32% that’s just not good enough, and it seems as though Rick Barnes agrees. When speaking at the Big Orange Caravan he had this to say: “There is no doubt we need to improve our shooting, not only by recruiting which I think we have done but with the guys we have.” Looking at what the staff has done recruiting the transfer portal, they seem to have gone out and gotten that much-needed improved shooting and athleticism needed on the roster for the upcoming season. The first transfer addition comes in the son of Tenessee's assistant coach Justin Gainey. Jordan Gainey announced on Tuesday, April 18th that he would be transferring from USC Upstate Tennessee. Gainey, a six-foot-four-inch guard, was the Big South Freshman of the Year in the 2021-2022 season, starting 32 games and putting up an impressive stat line of 13.8 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 47% from two, 49% from three, and 87% from the free throw line. This past season as a sophomore, Gainey’s points per game increased to 15.2, while his shooting numbers decreased, but that is likely due to his increased usage rate while being more of a focal point for opposing defenses. Gainey is a long, athletic guard with the ability to knock down shots at a high rate. Gainey has a chance to find himself competing for minutes at the two-guard position. The second addition comes from Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum, a six-foot-six-inch stretch four, and former four-star Top 100 player out of high school. Ledlum had 15-plus power five offers but chose to make Academics a priority. The only three schools he decided to visit were Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. Ultimately choosing to commit to Harvard, becoming the Crimson’s go-to guy over the past two seasons. Ledlum really broke out during his sophomore campaign, averaging 16.9 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. While his scoring increased to 18.8, his rebounding numbers did decrease to 8.5 per game. He was voted as a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection this past season. Ledlum does the majority of his work around the rim. He does show some ability to step outside the arc to knock down the occasional three or put the ball on the floor and slash to the rim. You can see shades of Grant Williams’ game when you watch him play. He will add much-needed depth in the post. Ledlum will bring a lot of versatility for Coach Barnes to use. The third and final addition may be the most dynamic of them all. Dalton Knecht is a do-it-all forward from Northern Colorado. Knecht grew almost a full foot over the last couple of years. He was a five-foot-eight point guard in high school that has grown into a now six-foot-six-inch ball-handling forward. Knecht averaged 20.2 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists per game. He was pursued by some of the top programs in college basketball once he entered the portal. The film shows a tall, lanky player that could play the one-four spots and score at all three levels on the court. Knecht is a matchup nightmare and is the type of player Tennessee has been needing under Coach Barnes for the past few seasons. Tennessee has a chance at being one of the top offensive units in the country, and if the pieces can fit together and are utilized properly, this could be Barnes’s best chance at a magical moment in March. Photo above | Knoxville News Sentinel

By: Jake Hubbard Junior Staff Writer The All Vol Call In Show Tennessee has been and is still regarded as one of the best college football programs in history. Although the Volunteers have faced diversity for what feels like decades, Tennessee remains one of the most notable programs in the country. Dating back to General Robert Neyland, Johnny Majors, and more recently Phillip Fulmer, the Volunteers were feared on Saturdays and had the respect of most programs in college football. Once at the top, does Tennessee and Josh Heupel have what it takes to regain this respect and notoriety that it so strongly carried in the “glory days”? Although Tennessee has had years of turmoil since the Fulmer days, seeing four head coaches from 2009-2020 (Lane Kiffin, Derrick Dooley, Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt), the Tennessee faithful have not wavered. Through historically erratic coaching searches, terrible Butch Jones quotes, and even the worst season in program history, one thing has remained; Tennessee is a loved and valued program by many. And those that valued this beloved program strived to claw this team, this University, and this state out of the depths of where the aforementioned head coaches had left them. In comes Danny White and Josh Heupel. White has shown time and time again that he wants not only the football team to prosper, but the university as a whole. From track and field to the diving team, and baseball to water polo; Danny White likes to win, and he has made that evident in his time in Knoxville. On January 27, 2021, Danny went with his gut and brought a familiar face to Tennessee: Josh Heupel. A head coach from a non-power five school, now at the helm of one of the most historically dominant programs in history. Pairing his experience as a player (Oklahoma) and his success as an offensive coordinator and/or quarterbacks coach at several programs (Oklahoma, Utah State, Missouri, UCF), Josh Heupel had plans of doing just that, dominating. Basically rewriting the offensive records books in only his second year at Tennessee, Heupel led the Vols to an impressive 11-2 season with notable wins over Florida, LSU (away), Alabama, and an impressive win over Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl. Was it a fluke? Is Heupel the real deal? Can Tennessee replicate that success? I can’t answer those questions, but I can tell you this: the culture istransformed. I have been attending games in Knoxville for the past 25-30 years. I remember the days of Casey Clausen throwing game winners to Jason Witten. I witnessed Tennessee lose to the hands of Georgia State and BYU. Regardless of the wins, the losses, the history; there is a different feel on Rocky Top these days. If you have been to Knoxville in the last year and a half, you know what I am talking about. There is an astounding optimism, desire, and belief surrounding Knoxville that hasn’t been there in the recent past. Coming off the record setting offensive season and handling Clemson easily in the Orange Bowl, I can tell you that expectations are sky-high onRocky Top. Tennessee not only wants to win, they expect to. Tennessee is striving for nothing less than excellence. This team, this university, this state is all in. The culture is electric. It is uplifting, and exciting. I can’t tell you the exact value of pi, how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, or why Jarrett Guarantano decided to do that quarterback sneak. But what I can tell you, Tennessee is excited… And Tennessee is back. Photo Above | Tennessee Football on Twitter

By: Dallas Bowlin Senior Staff Writer/ Junior Editor The All Vol Call In Show Tennessee may have one of the best college softball teams in recent history, and they deserve more attention. When it comes to college softball, two teams historically have stood above the rest: 1996 Arizona, and 2021 Oklahoma. The 1996 Arizona team went 64-3 overall, once road a 31-game winning streak, and outscored its opponents 38-2 while going 7-0 in the postseason on its way to a national title. Five first-team All-Americans led the Wildcats, including Leah O'Brien, who was named to ESPN's All-Time College Softball Team. The 2021 Oklahoma team also had an impressive overall record, going 56-4. Oklahoma homered in 58 of its sixty games, setting NCAA single-season records for batting average, runs per game, and home runs per game. At the College World Series, the Sooners proved to be the best team in the country, winning a national championship, and breaking all kinds of offensive records with 15 home runs, 49 runs, and 67 hits. In 2023, the Tennessee Volunteers could be on the verge of adding their names to the annals of college softball history. At the time of writing, the Lady Vols had an overall record of 34-5 and a conference record of 13-2. Tennessee leads the SEC in the following categories: earned run average, opposing batting average, batters struck out looking, hits allowed, and runs allowed. The Lady Vols pitching staff, as demonstrated, is akin to running a gauntlet. Ashley Rogers, Karlyn Pickens, and Payton Gottshall are the top three opposing "batting average" leaders in the SEC. Ryleigh White leads the SEC in batters struck out looking, while Ashley Rogers leads the league in runs allowed and walks. They aren't just the best in the SEC; three of the nation's top six pitchers in terms of hits allowed per seven innings are Vols (Rogers, Pickens, and Gottshall). While pitching is Tennessee's strong suit, the offense is not to be overlooked. Tennessee ranks 32nd in batting average, 20th in home runs per game, and fourth in scoring. Time will tell how this Tennessee Softball team finishes the season, but they should have as good a chance as any other team to win the College World Series and possibly go down in history as one of the best in the sport. Photo Above | Tennessee Athletics

By: Dallas Bowlin Senior Staff Writer/ Junior Editor The All Vol Call In Show The conclusion of the 2022-2023 Tennessee basketball season has left the Volunteer faithful with an all too familiar bitter aftertaste. Before being eliminated by a team that would eventually reach the final four, the ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls, Tennessee had just defeated legendary blue-blood Duke, holding them to their lowest point total in NCAA Tournament history. The question now becomes, what is next for Tennessee basketball? What will the team look like next year? Take a look at my Tennessee basketball offseason wish list for 2023-2024: Veteran experience - Tennessee will be extremely young for the 23-24 season due to the loss of seniors Santiago Vesocvi, Josiah-Jordan James, Uros Plavsic, Tyreke Key, and Olivier Nkamhou, so finding some extra veteran experience in the transfer portal can only be viewed positively. Shooting- The loss of Santiago Vescovi, arguably the best shooter for the Vols since Chris Lofton, will be difficult to replace entirely, but finding some consistent perimeter shooters in the portal will be required if the Vols hope to "contend" in the SEC. Post scoring - The emergence of freshman Tobe Awaka was huge, Jonas Aidoo continued to show promise, and the Vols are bringing in two highly touted four-star prospects in Cade Phillips and JP Estrella. However, Aidoo is more of a defensive anchor with a developing offensive game, Awaka is a rebounding machine with a developing offensive game, and relying on freshman post players to score is a risky game. Finding a capable post-scorer would be extremely beneficial for Tennessee. Slight coaching style tweaks- Rick Barnes is a near-lock for the coaching hall of fame at this point in his career and has most likely forgotten more about the game of basketball than I or anyone in the fanbase will ever know, so suggesting he "change some things up" seems silly. However, the game is constantly evolving, with the rise of analytical sites such as KenPom and Evan Miya, among others, influencing how coaches coach. For starters, when you have a veteran player (especially a guard) with two early first-half fouls, you have to start trusting them to continue playing and not pick up a third foul. You are simply fouling them out by sitting them early yourself. This second and final one is similar to the first, but Coach Barnes needs to relax his grip on the players' leashes a little and just let them play. We've seen a lot of players come to Tennessee and completely change their playstyle to fit the offense, and the majority of the time, those changes negate what made them special in the first place. I'm not advocating isolation basketball, nor am I advocating the Alabama brand of basketball, in which you just chuck up countless three-pointers, but I am advocating for a little more offensive freedom. Obviously, these are just my opinions. Be sure to sound off and post a wish list of your own in the comments or on our social media pages. Photo Above | USAToday

By: Jordan Moore Senior Staff Writer The All Vol Call In Show The 2022-2023 version of the Tennessee basketball Vols had as many ups and downs as the hills of East Tennessee. There were times when this team looked like a bonafide Final Four contender, then other times they looked like a middle-of-the-pack SEC squad. From big-time wins against Kansas, Texas, Alabama, and Duke to head-scratching losses against the likes of Florida, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. Why were there so many up-and-down moments? Why could this team not find consistency on a nightly basis? I hope to answer those questions… To understand where exactly things went wrong, we have to go back to April 5th, 2022. The day that Kennedy Chandler announced he would forgo his eligibility at UT and enter the NBA Draft. In the 2021–2022 season, Chandler was one of the most dynamic guards not only in the SEC but nationally. It didn’t take long to understand why there was so much hype surrounding his recruitment and arrival on Rocky Top. The playmaking ability that he brought to the roster was undeniable. The two seasons before Chandler's arrival saw the Vols post KenPom offensive efficiency ratings of 96th and 85th, respectively; in the one season with him, their rating jumped to 35th. Take Santiago Vescovi for an example of Chandler’s impact on the Vols: with Kennedy Chandler on the roster, he posted career highs in 2-point percentage (41.3%), 3-point percentage (40.3%), and points per game (13.3). Chandler's ability to beat his defender off the bounce, get to the rim to finish, or find an open teammate for a kick-out three was a thing of beauty. He had an incredible ability to create and get his shot when needed. He put a ton of pressure on the opposing defenses. Not only was he a great offensive weapon but he was also a great defender, his ability to get steals and put pressure on the other team's ball handler created a ton of easy buckets for the Vols in transition. As the season progressed, Barnes found the perfect lineup to finish games with. It involved having three of his best ball handlers and shooters on the floor at the same time (Zakia Zeigler, Kennedy Chandler, and Santiago Vescovi). This allowed the offense to have more spacing and playmaking ability down the stretch in games. In modern basketball, where having dynamic guards and floor spacing is a must, Barnes had found the perfect formula to help his team win games and reach new heights. The 2021-2022 Vols ended up having one of the best seasons in Barnes tenure; they would finish the regular season on a four-game winning streak, winning nine out of their last 10 games and 12 out of their last 14. They would go on to win three more games in the SECT and bring home the tournament title for the first time since 1979. The Vols would enter the NCAA Tournament with a record of 26-7 and earn a 3 seed, but they would ultimately end up losing in the round of 32 to a talented Michigan team that had underachieved in the regular season but was finally able to string two great games together once the NCAA Tournament started. The season may not have ended the way the team or fanbase expected, but Barnes had hit on something offensive that he needed to replicate. The loss of Kennedy Chandler left a hole that needed to be filled. By the time he announced he would turn pro, there weren’t many options left in the high school ranks, given the caliber of point guard the Vols were losing. Rick Barnes and his staff pivoted quickly to the transfer portal to find a guard that could add that playmaking dynamic that they were losing. The top The point guard they targeted was Yuri Collins. In the 2021-2022 season, Collins led all NCAA Division I basketball in assists per game while also adding 11.1 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game on 45% shooting from two and 36.2% shooting from three. Barnes had found the perfect replacement for Kennedy Chandler and the three-guard look-to-end games that had brought him so much success. Only the dream was too good to be true. Rumors of tampering chargers began to swirl, and Barnes chose to back off to prevent any NCAA questioning or investigations that could come from such charges. What next? Tyrese Hunter was a highly-rated guard in the same class as Kennedy Chandler. Hunter had just finished up his freshman campaign at Iowa State which saw him win Big-12 freshman of the year while leading his team in assists per game, steals per game, and finishing second in points per game. He, like Yuri, seemed to fit perfectly into the type of role Kennedy Chandler played. The staff was able to get him in for a visit and put a ton of time and effort into landing him, but in the end, Hunter decided to stay inside the BIG-12 and play for Texas. The Vols were ultimately able to land a Tennessee native in Tyreke Key, who had just finished up a stellar career at Indiana State. The problem? Key had never played point guard and wasn’t known as a dynamic playmaking guard with exceptional athleticism. Fast forward to fall camp, and the Vols only had one true point guard on the roster: Zakai Zeigler, a five-foot-nine point guard, straight off of a stellar freshman campaign that had seen him team up with Kennedy Chandler to form one of the best backcourt duos in the country. ZZ, as fans like to call him, had shown that he could be an incredible spark plug off the bench as a sixth man or even a great off-the-ball scorer when teamed up with another great point guard. Barnes experimented with different options at the ball-handling spot during fall practice to team up with Zakai, but no one was able to give them the same type of dynamic they had found the season prior. As the 2022–2023 season began to play out, you could see that the lack of another ball handler and creator negatively affected the team at times. Opponents began to pressure the ball more without Zakai on the floor, meaning Santiago Vescovi had to play more of a point guard role instead of being able to play off the ball with a playmaking point guard like he had the season prior. Teams began to gameplan for Vescovi, the Vols' best offensive weapon, and on nights those game plans worked the Vols just didn’t have anyone dynamic enough off the bounce to generate any offense for themselves or others on the floor. Starting February 1st the Vols would lose five out of eight games and only score over 70 points on three occasions during that stretch. Things would go from bad on the offensive end to worse when the one true ball handler on the team, Zakia Zeigler, would go down with an ACL tear against Arkansas in the second to last game of the regular season. Without that same play-making dynamic at the guard position, the Vols offense would struggle more times than not during the final few weeks of the season to put the ball in the basket. They had no one on the roster that could go get them a bucket when the shot clock would run down or in the crunch moments of games. The Vols would enter the NCAAT 23-10, struggling down the stretch, with a 5-7 mark in their last 13 games. Scoring droughts had become a theme. Ultimately the Vols would earn a 4-seed and be paired up against Louisiana in the first round and Duke in the second round. Neither of those teams had enough playmaking ability to knock off the Vols. To the surprise of the majority of the fanbase, after struggling down the stretch of the regular season, Rick Barnes and his squad found themselves in the Sweet Sixteen, one step away from reaching the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history. Their opponent? The 9-seed Florida Atlantic Owls. On the surface, this looked like a great matchup for the Vols. But once you dug into the roster and metrics of FAU you could quickly see how it would end up a matchup nightmare. Dusty May and his squad had entered the NCAAT quietly as one of the best teams in the country, they finished their season with an incredible record of 33-3 after winning the Conference-USA regular season and tournament titles. What made this Owls squad so good? Their ability to spread the floor with their four-guard-one-big lineup terrorized teams. FAU was one of the most efficient offenses in all of college basketball. They had a plethora of guards that could put pressure on defenses with their ball handling, shooting, and creating abilities. They were one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and even though they lacked size their floor spacing and board crashing made them one of the best rebounding teams in the country. This would end up being a horrible matchup for a Vols squad down their starting point guard and a team with very little playmaking ability at the guard spot which also left a lot to be desired when it came to being athletic enough to stay in front of guards. Tennessee had already struggled with this type of team on two occasions during the season, Missouri had beaten the Vols using a similar style earlier in the season in Knoxville and then the SEC Tournament. Ultimately the Vols would go on to lose to FAU because of the Owls' ability to beat the Vol defenders off the dribble in space to create for themselves and others while also being able to stay in front of the UT guards on defense and not allowing them to get easy open looks. But did the Vols lose the game on that night, or did they lose it back during the summer of 2022 when Rick Barnes knew he needed to add more athleticism and playmaking ability at the guard spot but would end up striking out there in the end? The Vols needed another Kennedy Chandler in the worst way in the 2022-2023 season and especially in the Sweet Sixteen matchup against FAU. Can Rick Barnes and the coaching staff fill this massive hole on the roster moving forward? If not, I'm afraid we will continue to see the same inconsistency and inability to score points in crunch time moving forward. Photo above | The Tennessean