Hoops

Coming off a big road win against South Carolina, Rick Barnes and his guys return home to host Vanderbilt tonight at 7 p.m. Vandy, of course, will be devoting a great deal of attention to Grant Williams, who went off for 37 points against the Commodores in Nashville earlier this season. Will Williams will himself to another scoring feast or will he merely divert the attention and free up space for another big night for Lamonte Turner or another teammate? Nobody knows, as this team’s identity this season may best be described as chameleony. Or maybe shapeshiftery. Tune in to ESPNU tonight at 7 p.m. to see what shape we become for this game.

Rick Barnes met with the press yesterday and said stuff that was caught on all manner of recording devices. Here he is caught in the act of talking about his team:

Notably: Defense. He likes defense. It apparently gives birth to offense or something like that.

And yes, it’s okay to start joking around and having fun and enjoying something again. The mourning period for the 2017 football season is over. Remove your sackcloth, take a shower, and get on with your sports life. I know you are wary of falling back in love with Vols’ sports teams. I can relate.

But this basketball team isn’t going to hurt you:


Sure, they will likely lose in the end, but it’s a tournament sport, and every team but one suffers that fate. Enjoy the ride.

Football

If you’re wondering where we’re at as we inch closer to National Signing Day, GoVols247 has you covered with a Recruiting Stock Report ($$$). One particularly interesting note on this side of the paywall is that coach Pruitt and two other Vols coaches met with 5-star cornerback Olaijah Griffin last night. He’s the nation’s No. 3 cornerback and No. 25 overall prospect in this year’s class, and while USC may have the crystal ball advantage, Pruitt is setting his stun gun on Woo.


See that mysterious black bag that Pruitt is holding? It’s full of magic and hope.

The Papa speaks, imploring us first to hold our horses on Jauan Jennings because he’s not officially back on the team yet and is going to screw it up unless he changes, and second, setting realistic expectations for how the teams may have to play as careful underdogs for a while until we put the finishing touches on this thing.

It appears Fulmer was serious, though, when saying he was going to build something to compete with Alabama, because he’s continuing to build an army of coaching support staff, adding an assistant director of football operations and an assistant strength coach.

Other fun stuff

Nick Saban is reportedly hiring Mike Locksley to replace Brian Daboll as his new offensive coordinator. Why is this fun? See if this reminds you of anything:

Alabama coach Nick Saban has reportedly settled on the replacement for former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and all he had to do was walk down the hall.

Ding, ding, ding! Yes, that’s how Butch Jones found Larry Scott. We need an offensive coordinator, and he was, like, right there, so we hired him!

Okay, so just because it exploded into a thousand death shards here doesn’t mean it will happen there, but a guy can dream, can’t he?

Also, this piece from Dari Nowkhah about the struggle to keep his fandom from showing while covering the Rose Bowl is well done. I wonder when someone is finally going to challenge the idea that old-school professional sports journalists must continue to labor under a pretense of objectivity. It really doesn’t have to be that way. You can be a fan and still be fair and professional, and it will likely result in a lot more fun and a corresponding increase in ratings as well.

And finally, have you ever wondered how the players in the Super Bowl were rated as high school recruits? SB Nation has the info.