Vols believe Tennessee is an “everything school”

Tennessee men's and women's basketball teams were happy both teams made the Sweet 16. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Tennessee had both its men’s and women’s basketball teams advance to the Sweet 16, a notable accomplishment for any school and something that is rare for even the best programs.

 The University of Tennessee, it’s an everything school. We try to embody that. There’s a great culture not only within our basketball program but all of our programs. We get a chance to go support other student-athletes from other sports, and we try our best to, and they do the same for us,” Tennessee forward Josiah-Jordan James said.

“The culture that we have at Tennessee is second to none. We all love each other, we all support each other, and it’s so easy because we have great teams doing great things. Tennessee is an everything school. We strive to be the best at everything.”

His teammates felt the same way as James.

“I think it’s really cool to be one of the schools where two of our programs in basketball are in the NCAA Tournament, have made it as far as we have,” Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua said. “We see the girls every day. We practice in the same facilities, so we see them around and we know how hard they work and how much they want to be in the position that they’re in.”

“We’re an everything school. We really take care of each other. We all root for each other. It’s one big family. I think any of our UT teams’ success is everybody’s success,” Santiago Vescovi said.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes praised Tennessee’s administration, including athletics director Danny White who he says has made as “big an impact within two years of anyone I’ve ever seen” and has helped every sport.

“He’s a very competitive athletic director. He wants us to be good in everything,” Barnes said.

Barnes appreciates the legacy that Tennessee women’s coach Kellie Harper has to follow with the success Pat Summit had with the Vols.

“I saw when she came in how quickly she wanted to build her culture, and she’s done it. They’ve had a tough year with injuries, but for them to be where they are right now, again, she and her staff have a lot to be commended for,” Barnes said.