GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and special guest Jayson Swain (from his house across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss the shock to the system that this coronavirus shutdown is having on Tennessee football players.

Swain, who caught 126 passes while starring at Tennessee from 2003-06, returned to Knoxville after his playing days were done and started a new (and equally successful) career in the radio business. He hosts The Swain Event every morning from 7-10 Eastern. As a former star and captain at Tennessee, Swain has a unique insight into just how weird it will be for the current Vols to spend such an extended period of time away from their coaches, teammates and sanctioned workouts. 

How will — or at least should — the Vols occupy their time during this indefinite leave from campus? How can a player stay physically and mentally sharp without the use of a full weight room and teammates to workout with in the complex? Is it possible for a player to do that? It's worth mentioning that players almost never, at any point in the calendar year, spend more than a week or two away from some kind of action. This will be a shock to their systems. There's no way around that. But how can that shock be mitigated in some way? Swain's as good a place as any to start looking for some answers, and this episode, in addition to being a good old-fashioned Swain and Rucker reunion, is a search for those answers.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released later this week.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Grant Ramey (from GoVols247's Blount County Satellite Office in Maryville) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to put a bow on Tennessee's 2019-20 basketball season and look forward to what could be a fantastic 2020-21 season.

This past season was never a dull one for Rick Barnes and his Vols, who were dealt a crushing blow when fifth-year senior point guard and unquestioned team leader Lamonte Turner went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. Tennessee took a while to adjust to Turner's absence, and despite the emergence of junior forward John Fulkerson as a star and the remarkable impact from mid-year enrollee point guard Santiago Vescovi, the Vols remained an erratic bunch most of the season and were a longshot — not impossible, but a longshot — to make the NCAA Tournament before the postseason was cancelled because of the worldwide novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

What did we learn about the Vols this season? What went right, what we wrong and what was somewhere in between? That's the focus of the first segment of this episode. 

The future is the focus of the second segment of this episode, though, and the future for these Vols is expected to be bright. Tennessee seems to be a consensus top-15 team heading into next season, because most of the current roster returns and it will be bolstered by arguably the best signing class in program history — and that's not including the addition of Sacred Heart all-conference forward E.J. Anosike as a grad transfer, and the addition of Victor Bailey Jr., a versatile, ultra-athletic guard who sat out this season while transferring from Oregon. Why are people so excited about this team? Well, there are many legitimate reasons for that, and those reasons are discussed in detail in this episode.

Past. Present. Future. All of them are discussed in this episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

Looking for some discussion on Tennessee's newest football commitment?

There’s a GoVols247 Podcast for that. 

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Ryan Callahan (from his house across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss in-state wide receiver Walker Merrill's commitment to Tennessee.

Merrill — an Nashville-area star who has been on the Vols' target board for a long time — gave Tennessee its second commitment of this unique, coronavirus-quarantine period. What kind of player is he, though? Where does he fit in the Vols' system? What does his addition mean for this class? Those are some of the questions discussed in this breaking-news episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released later this week.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Ryan Callahan (from his house across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss speedy running back Jaylen Wright's commitment to Tennessee.

Wright, a 5-foot-11, 187-pound star at Southern High School in Durham, N.C., chose the Vols over a list of offers that included Miami, Arizona State and Syracuse, among others. He became the eighth public commitment and second public running back commitment in Tennessee's 2021 class, and he also hopes to run track for the Vols. 

How much of an impact did Jay Graham play in this process? What kind of player is Wright? How do his skills project to the next level? Is he merely a speed merchant, or does he have the potential be much more? What's next for Tennessee at the running back position in this class? How much does the uncertainly of the Zach Evans situation play into that? Those are some of the main discussion points in a breaking-news episode that covers a lot of ground in a small amount of time.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released later this week.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Patrick Brown (from his house at an undisclosed location across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss Sacred Heart grad-transfer forward E.J. Anosike’s commitment to Tennessee on Friday. The Pioneers star chose Tennessee over the rest of his top seven, a group that included Gonzaga, Louisville, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Georgia and Boston College.

Anosike, a younger brother of former Lady Vols star Nicky Anosike, spent the past three seasons at NCAA Division I program Sacred Heart, where the versatile forward blossomed into an All-Northeast Conference star.

The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Anosike averaged 15.7 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists last season, shooting nearly 50 percent from the foot and also showing some range to the 3-point line at times. He did most of his damage in the paint, though, much like his older siblings. Nicky was a two-time national champion as a frontline force for the Lady Vols, and OD Anosike twice led Division I in rebounding at Sienna before embarking on a professional career overseas.

What kind of player is the younger Anosike? How does he fit into the Tennessee program, both from a talent and personality standpoint? What does this addition mean for the Vols? Discussions on several of those topics — and you’ll probably like answers — are included in this breaking-news episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released by Monday, unless major breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Patrick Brown (from his house at an undisclosed location across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss an offseason checklist of sorts for Tennessee’s quarterbacks and wide receivers.

It wasn’t the spring anyone in the college football world envisioned, and some of Tennessee’s January enrollees — including touted quarterback signee Harrison Bailey and fellow quarterback (at least for now) Jimmy Holiday — had just three practices with their new teammates. In that sense, it’s tough to suggest anything has changed since the end of last season, when Jarrett Guarantano was the team’s primary player at the position. Assuming football gets going again at some point in the future, though, the opinion of Coach Jeremy Pruitt is that all five of Tennessee’s scholarship quarterbacks and Maryland transfer Kasim Hill (who’s a walk-on in Knoxville) have a chance to earn the first-team spot. Pruitt was clear about that early in spring camp, and he’s never been the type to treat quarterbacks much differently from those at any other position. You have to earn the job and keep the job, or someone else will be on the field.

Will Guarantano remain the man to beat there? What will it take for him to fully re-earn his spot atop the depth chart? Which players have a legitimate chance to take that job from him, and what do they need to do in order to make that happen? All things quarterback — including Brian Maurer and J.T. Shrout — are discussed in the first segment.

Receivers take the stage in the second segment, and there’s no shortage of things to discuss there, either. Tennessee has to replace a pair of special wideouts in Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway, and Tyler Byrd was a big figure in the locker room, as well, but the Vols do have a long list of intriguing options there.

Can Josh Palmer translate his undeniable talent into a starring role as a legitimate No. 1 target? Will Brandon Johnson’s decision to redshirt last season and return as a fifth-year senior pay dividends for him and the Vols? Will Georgia transfer Deangelo Gibbs get and stay focused and take advantage of the same talents he largely squandered during his time in Athens? Will speedy transfer Velus Jones Jr. from Southern Cal make an impact? Will promising underclassmen Ramel Keyton and Cedric Tillman make big strides as sophomores? What about the trio of gifted pass-catching targets who arrive this summer? How much of an impact can they make as true freshmen.

Admittedly, there are more questions than answers for the Vols at wide receiver right now, but they do have options, and some of them are exciting options. There’s a ton to discuss about that position, as well, and that discussion occurs in the second segment of this episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday, unless major breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Grant Ramey (from GoVols247’s Blount County Satellite Office in Maryville) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss Jalen Johnson’s decision to enter the transfer portal and what that means for Rick Barnes and his Vols moving forward.

The 6-foot-7, left-handed Johnson was the highest ranked signee in Tennessee’s 2016 class, but injuries dampened the start of his career, and things never really took off for him in Knoxville. The injury to Lamonte Turner opened a door for Johnson to play a large role this season, but he averaged just 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 15.7 minutes per game. Tennessee will have another pair of five-star guards (Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson) in the fold next season, and Oregon transfer Victor Bailey Jr. will be eligible after sitting out last season, so it’s tough to see Johnson getting as much playing time for the Vols as a fifth-year senior.

When seen through that lens, Johnson’s transfer makes sense for both sides involved. 

Johnson’s teammates have sworn for several seasons that he’s been one the program’s most talented players, and he’s always been a hard worker and great teammate, never making a fuss behind the scenes despite not getting as much playing time as he wanted. Those traits have endeared him to everyone in the program, and there’s genuine belief from those in the program that Johnson could be a really good player somewhere.

The flip side of Johnson’s transfer is obvious: Tennessee suddenly has an open scholarship for the 2020-21 season, and the Vols now have a chance to go find a player — preferably a big man — who can improve what already looks like one of the nation’s most talented rosters. There will be serious interest in that spot. But what kind of big man should Tennessee be targeting. There’s a brief discussion on that toward the end of this episode.

As with all breaking news pods, this was a one-segment episode, but there was a lot to discuss in that short time.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Tuesday, unless major breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Patrick Brown (from his house and at undisclosed location across town) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss Tennessee strength coach Craig Fitzgerald’s move to the New York Giants and what that means for the Vols.

Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the game’s premier strength coaches, so there’s no way to sugarcoat his absence, but Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt has a solid track record of identifying good people for his staff. Hiring good people means you have to fight to keep them and often lose them, but that’s better than not having good people, right?

A move like this means there’s plenty to discuss, and much of that discussion is crammed neatly into this 15-minute chat.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released later in the week, unless major breaking news occurs before that point.

Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Patrick Brown (from his house at an unspecified location) convened via the magic of Al Gore's Internets to discuss the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on college sports and what options the Vols and everyone else have going forward.

The first segment of this episode is a general discussion on where things stand for various college sports — fall, winter and spring sports — during this extended hiatus. Obviously this was shaping up to be potentially the best Tennessee baseball season in years, so Tony Vitello and his BaseVols came up a good bit in that segment. But football, basketball and other sports were discussed, as well.

Football takes the stage by itself in the second segment of this episode, with a discussion on what kind of options Tennessee and the rest of the college football world has at this point. Tennessee has been through two spring practices. Some programs have had more, and some haven’t started yet. Is there any kind of a fair or fairish way to handle this situation? Those options — plus the few things we gleaned from this limited viewing we had of the Vols this spring — are discussed in the second segment.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released by Wednesday, unless major breaking news occurs before that point. A mailbag podcast episode also will be published later in the week.