All’s fair in love and officials, CBSSports thinks Tennessee is a good bet, and Derek Barnett’s got good bend. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.
Hoops
Tennessee basketball leads off today because Rick Barnes is apparently a stickler for honesty — except when it comes to officials. So I guess we can trust him when he tells us fans that power forward Derrick Walker arrived on campus in “better shape than we thought he would be.”
Football
CBSSports’ Tom Fornelli thinks that Tennessee is the best over/under value play for 2017.
Class of 2018 3-star cornerback Jaylon Reed has decommitted from the Vols. 247Sports has a list of Tennessee’s best remaining options at the position. Bob Shoop is excited about his new batch of recruits for this year, at least.
Tennessee has offered a scholarship to Class of 2020 defensive end Samuel Anaele, from Miami, Florida.
Saturday Down South asks whether Tennessee’s passing game could be better in 2017. I’m pretty tired this morning — I’m catching #Predneck fever — so I didn’t actually see an answer, but I do like the question.
All for Tennessee waters the seed, saying that Tennessee’s defensive line is better than people think. The best evidence for this opinion is a junior class that includes Shy Tuttle, Jonathan Kongbo, Kahlil McKenzie, and Kyle Phillips.
And John Adams says that Tennessee shouldn’t have to play Alabama every year. He actually makes some valid points, namely that it makes things much more difficult for Tennessee, but you don’t chuck a 100+-year tradition because of one bad decade.
VFLs
Eagles defensive coordinator is loving Derek Barnett’s bend. So what you’re saying is that being able to maintain your balance around a tight corner is maybe more important for a defensive end than a 40-time or a vertical leap? Huh. Who knew?
The Detroit Free Press has a nice feature on VFL Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who’s happy to be injury-free and back on the field.
Miscellaneous fun stuff
Breaking: Lane Kiffin speaks non-inflammatory words, saying there was no reason not to let Tennessee coaches come to his camp.
The headline says that former players (plural) are complaining about the way Tennessee treats them, but the article focuses on a single tweet by a single player. Maybe it’s overblown, but if Penn State does something better than Tennessee, we should fix that, stat.
Tennessee golfers Nolan Ray and Hunter Wolcott qualified for the 111th Southern Amateur Championship, while former Vol AJ Newell tied for fourth place by shooting a six-under 207 through three rounds of the Symetra Tour’s Fuccillo Kia Classic this weekend.
Tennessee track and field is sending 14 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championship from June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon.
