Deadspin: Tennessee Volunteers

Recruit Says Bruce Pearl Sent A Beautiful Girl To Tell Him To Attend Tennessee

Barry Petchesky — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:25:20 EST

Small forward Jordan Adams is one of the many prospects out of Oak Hill Academy, and ESPN has him ranked as the 50th best recruit in the nation. He's going to UCLA in the fall, but they weren't the only ones who were interested: Bruce Pearl, while still at Tennessee, apparently called in the services of one of his top recruiting specialists: More »

Meet Tennessee's Emergency Kicker, Who Was Sitting On A Frat Couch, Possibly Drunk, An Hour Before Kicking In The Game

Jack Dickey — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:35:00 EST

SEC football's a big thing, but the Tennessee Volunteers really aren't. (Opportunity is nowhere, and all of that.) And the Vols especially aren't a big thing when they're playing out-of-conference, like they were last Saturday, against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. Tennessee won, but only after averting a brief scare in the kicking game. More »

This Evening: Toddler Derek Dooley, Who Has Just As Many SEC Victories This Season As The Real Derek Dooley

Dom Cosentino — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EDT

Your p.m. roundup for Oct. 26, the day those old recordings totally creeped us out. Photo of Toddler Derek Dooley, which recalls the legend that was Baby Mangino, via Outkick the Coverage. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors. More »

Banished From The NCAA, Bruce Pearl Will Now Sell You Groceries

Jack Dickey — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:10:00 EDT

With good reason, no one's letting former Tennessee Vols coach Bruce Pearl anywhere near a basketball court anytime soon. (He's been confined to barbecues instead.) He had a bad season, and he broke NCAA rules, so Tennessee fired him. Then Pearl received a three-year banishment from college basketball. More »

Sally Jenkins's Pat Summitt Piece Will Break Your Heart

Jack Dickey — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:15:00 EDT

Jenkins, the longtime Washington Post writer, is one of Summitt's best friends. She discloses that in her piece, which you should read now. More »

Pat Summitt Diagnosed With Dementia, Will Still Coach This Season (Updated With Summitt's Taped Statement)

Emma Carmichael — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:50:00 EDT

Sad news out of Knoxville: CBS's Gregg Doyel reports that Pat Summitt—head coach of Tennessee's women's basketball team and the most successful coach in NCAA history—has been diagnosed with dementia. She's just 59 years old. More »

The New Slogan For Tennessee's Football Program: "Opportunity Is Nowhere"

Jack Dickey — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:40:00 EDT

Derek Dooley over-kerns. Typical for Ten ness ee. More »

Let Us (Mostly) Rejoice In Pat Summitt's Misery

Emma Carmichael — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:05:00 EDT

Last night, Muffet McGraw earned her first career win over Pat Summitt. The Notre Dame women had lost 20 straight games to the Tennessee Volunteers before McGraw's squad — led by its phenomenal sophomore guard, Skylar Diggins — defeated the No. 1 Vols 73-59 in Dayton last night. This was a bittersweet moment for women's college hoops: With it, we lose out on what would have been the first UConn-Tennessee/Geno-Pat matchup in over four years, but at the same time we're treated to a rare moment of mild parity on the distaff side. A No. 2 seed actually defeated a No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four, and in the women's game that's pretty close to a No. 11 seed beating a No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four. (I exaggerate, but only slightly.) More »

Steven Pearl Laughs On Twitter At Dad's UT Replacement

Jack Dickey — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT

You didn't really expect Bruce Pearl and kin to exit Knoxville quietly, with great dignity, especially when Tennessee didn't wait a full week before hiring a replacement, Cuonzo Martin, did you? More »

Bruce Pearl's First Con, And The World That Created A Monster

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:10:02 EDT

The first time I met Jimmy Collins was in 2004. I was working on a profile of UW-Milwaukee's ascendant basketball coach Bruce Pearl and had come to Chicago to get the other side of the story. Collins was coaching at the University of Illinois-Chicago, but by that point he was much better known as Pearl's foil, a sort of perpetual other side of the story. The short version goes like this: In 1989, Pearl, then an assistant at Iowa, accused Collins, then an assistant at Illinois, of offering a Chevy Blazer and $80,000 to a recruit named Deon Thomas, who was a star at Chicago's Simeon High School. Pearl had proof: a surreptitious recording of a phone conversation with Thomas. The controversy that ensued temporarily crippled one Big Ten program and two coaching careers, and it was still very much on the principals' minds in 2004 when Pearl offered a handshake before a game and Collins rejected it. This had caused some squirming around the Horizon League. Beyond that, nobody much gave a shit. More »

Bruce Pearl Between Rock And Hard Place

Barry Petchesky — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:40:00 EDT

Your morning roundup for March 22, the day our road signs finally warned us of the zombie menace. More »

Tennessee's Scotty Hopson Disregards Human, Dunks

Emma Carmichael — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:45:00 EST

This would make a nice poster, what with the flat top and all. Hopson led the Vols with 23 points in a 73-67 win over South Carolina last night. More »

Vols Fans Take Aim At Lane Kiffin, With Actual Guns

Barry Petchesky — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:15:27 EST

It's the one-year anniversary of Lane Kiffin fleeing Tennessee for sunnier coasts, and to celebrate, a local gun store is holding "Shoot Coach Lane's Bobble-Head Day." It's exactly what it sounds like. More »

Last Night's Winner: Big Ten Refs Grab The Spotlight

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:25:00 EST

It's rare when we even notice which conference's refs are working bowl games. So the Big Ten crews at the Music City and Pinstripe Bowls must have been doing something right. Or wrong. Or both. More »

Stanford Fan Should've Read His Sign Aloud Before Bringing It To The Game

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST

Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »

Ray Lewis Wants To Snuggie With You

Barry Petchesky — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:30:00 EST

How Pat Summitt Ruined The Best Thing About Women's Basketball

Emma Carmichael — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:05:20 EST

For girls of the late 1990s and early 2000s, UConn-Tennessee was very often the only game that mattered — the ponytail Super Bowl. Then Pat Summitt screwed it all up. Emma Carmichael explains. More »

Bruce Pearl Gets In Amusing Zinger On "Dumbass" Lane Kiffin

Barry Petchesky — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:25:00 EST

Pearl, on his suspendable offenses: "I've made mistakes, I clearly did, but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook. I miss Lane Kiffin." [Knoxville News Sentinel] More »

Bruce Pearl's Wife Rushes To His Defense With Ill-Advised Crucifixion Comparison

Barry Petchesky — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:15:00 EST

Bruce Pearl received an 8-game suspension for recruiting violations that he admitted to. To Brandy Pearl, that makes him just like Jesus. More »

Derek Dooley Compares His Tennessee Team To The Nazis Or Something (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

David Matthews — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EDT

During a press conference today, Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley took a spin towards crazytown, comparing his team's miscommunication woes to the Nazis' prior to the Allies' landing at Normandy. This won't be hilariously recontextualized by a rival at all. More »

UF Little Person Strips, Tries To Fight Tennessee Fans

Barry Petchesky — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:40:00 EDT

It ends pretty much as you'd expect these things to; with a boot to the chest. More »

Tennessee Football Team Doesn't Know How To Properly Bathe

David Matthews — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:45:00 EDT

A staph infection outbreak among several Tennessee football players left coach Derek Dooley with no option other than to conduct a team-wide clinic on proper showering technique and hygiene. Work up a rich lather after the jump. More »

Derek Dooley Hints Matt Simms Might Be The Starter

Sports Radio Interviews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:20:00 EDT

Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley. More »

Tennessee Players In Bar Brawl, But Is There A Potential NCAA Violation In Play?

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:45:00 EDT

If you're a UT player and would like to stay on the team, just avoid Cumberland Avenue. And if you're a regular person and don't want to get beaten up by the UT players, also avoid Cumberland Avenue. More »

Volunteers Vs. Conscripted From Birth: Your Tennessee-MSU Open Thread

Barry Petchesky — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:20:00 EDT

The winner becomes the highest (lowest?) seed, yet the most boring team in the Final Four. We don't like our Cinderellas to be huge programs on a down year. Still, fun coaches. Follow along in the comments. More »

Swiperboy And Bruce Pearl's Son Make Tennessee Most Entertaining (Or Infuriating) Sweet 16 Team

Dashiell Bennett — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:30:19 EDT

Looking for a bandwagon NCAA team now that yours has been eliminated? How about Tennessee? At the very least, their smooth rhymes and maddening nepotism will give you something talk about at the water cooler. More »

Set The Lower Midwest Aflame: Your 3:00 Open Thread (VIDEO UPDATE)

Dashiell Bennett — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:20:58 EDT

Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. If you're flying over these states today, the bonfires will light your way to whatever godless coastal sinhole you've sold your soul to live in. Butler-Murray State; Ohio-Tennessee. Get some. More »

Indigenous Warriors Take On Mountain Folk: San Diego State-Tennessee Open Thread (CINDERELLA WATCH)

David Matthews — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:45:00 EDT

Bruce Pearl's team got stomped last weekend against Kentucky. Are they in for a repeat performance? Is Marshall Faulk going to get interviewed by Armen Keteyian courtside? Join in on the fun. More »

The Ballad Of Peanut Butter Kid: A Firsthand Account

Barry Petchesky — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:15:00 EST

Some fans cover themselves in body paint. Others just spill food on themselves over the course of the game. Then there's UGA's Peanut Butter Kid, who made yesterday's upset over Tennessee just about as unpleasant as possible for everyone involved. More »

UT Proves That Lane Kiffin Was A Hardened Criminal

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:30:00 EST

The smear campaign against the newly-departed continues in earnest, as state and university officials confirm he never held an in-state driver's license. Throw away the key! More »

Every Time You Void Your Bowels You'll Think Of Lane Kiffin

Barry Petchesky — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST

It's cute when Knoxville pretends they didn't want Kiffikins anyway, but the newest proposal is fitting: bestow his name on the place they get rid of their shit. More »

One-Fourth Of Lane Kiffin Rumor Turns Out To Be True

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:45:26 EST

A Knoxville Lexus dealer confirms that a car they leased to Kiffin through the university was involved in an accident at some point in the past. Feel free to jump to whatever conclusions you deem appropriate. [WVLT] More »

Because Hiring A Famed Coach's Son Worked Out So Well Last Time

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:45:00 EST

Everybody and their mother is reporting that Derek Dooley will be the next coach at UT. But he'd have to break his contract with LA Tech! I'm sure indignant Vols fans will heap scorn upon him as well, right? [Tennessean] More »

How Lane Kiffin Resurrected, Then Destroyed Tennessee's Recruiting Program

Dashiell Bennett — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:45:50 EST

Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron quickly turned Tennessee recruiting in a national superstar, but their noisy exit could not have come at a worse time and will leave the Volunteers worse off than when they took over. More »

Connecting The Two Greatest Tragedies Of The Young Decade

Barry Petchesky — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:20:00 EST

A Knoxville store is looking to send unwanted Lane Kiffin shirts to Haiti. Wait, they sold coach-branded merchandise? And you people bought it? You deserve everything you get (UT, not Port-Au-Prince). [Tennessean] More »

Poor Layla Kiffin's Facebook Fan Page Has Also Been Set On Fire

A.J. Daulerio — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:35:29 EST

Last year, Clay Travis started a Facebook fan page called "Our Coach's Wife Is Hotter Than Yours" when Layla was still wearing Circus Peanut orange as a member of the UT family. In recent hours, she's lost some fans. More »

Last Night's Winner: Impressionable Student-Athletes

Dashiell Bennett — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:15:27 EST

In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like all the current and prospective college athletes who should finally be disabused of any illusions about the promises their coaches don't plan to keep. More »

UT FANS NOW ATTACKING DEFENSELESS ROCK (BURNING MATTRESS UPDATE)

A.J. Daulerio — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:55:42 EST

That's the famed UT Rock, marked up with the first batch of heartfelt farewell messages from a grateful student body to Lane Kiffin. Some students also raided Kiffin's press conference to his players. Plus, another defiled rock photo below. More »

Bruce Pearls Sticks Gun Foot In Mouth

Barry Petchesky — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:45:00 EST

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Four players suspended after being caught with handguns? No problem, says Pearl. "We still have got weapons." [Kentucky Sports Radio] More »

Four Vols Basketball Players Arrested By Police, Suspended By Frequently-Shirtless Coach

Gourmet Spud — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:25:53 EST

Gilbert Arenas isn't the only athlete having gun troubles these days. Four members of the Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team have been charged with weapon and drug-related offenses stemming from a traffic stop near their campus yesterday. More »