Happy Thursday: 
It's Tennessee at Florida beginning tonight. Plus NBA and NHL playoffs while we keep our eye on the transfer portal.
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Tennessee Baseball & Live Music Tonight At Original Corner 16: I'll be playing music tonight at the original location of Corner 16 tonight and would love to have you out to watch the Tennessee game with us. We'll play Rocky Top when we score and play some tunes that kids can participate in while playing some stuff that grownups will love. The last time we did this was the Clemson game in the NCAA Tournament last summer. It's going to be great weather. Great times. Great sports. Great live music. Fun stuff.
The Next ZZ? We told you about Ben Hammond a few days ago. He's visiting Tennessee on Monday. The Vols are officially in the game! He's 5-10 and projects to be a four year player. He profiles a lot like ZZ. Signed with Rhode Island but asked out of his letter of intent after a slew of staff changes there. Hammond hails from suburban DC (Fairfax, VA). He's a four star player. Stands 5-10 180. Tough player. Very shifty. Led his AAU team (Team Takeover) to Peach Jam Championship. His high school team Paul VI was the Virginia State champion and the national runner up. He sounds so much like ZZ it's insane. Rick Barnes loves him!!!
Tennessee wants to grow him in the non league games and let him take some pressure off ZZ in SEC play. Love the plan. Vols and Virginia Tech are going to battle it out with Georgetown in the picture as well. He was at Tech over the weekend and will be in Knoxville soon. Hammond is the #1 point guard on Tennessee's board.
Chaz Lanier Is Just Having Fun: You're going to have to trust me on this but Chaz Lanier is psy opping people on social media. And he's playing with media people too. Tennessee believes internally that he's 100 percent coming. They'll be absolutely shocked if Lanier doesn't end up here. Tennessee has a GLARING hole on their roster, and they aren't even pretending to recruit any other shooting guard. What does that tell you? It tells me that they KNOW Lanier is coming. And I'll tell you we've been calling balls and strikes here in real time. You never say something is 100 percent because people do and will spend stooooopid money, but Lanier as you read this is 99.999999 % heading here.
Vols On ESPN Tonight! That's fun stuff. And with VFL Chris Burke on the call as well! In fact Chris appeared on the latest TLD Logistics Tennessee Extra Innings Podcast with us if you want to give it a listen. We have Chris and Tony Vitello back to back in one for ages. Please give it a listen here. This podcast is also available wherever you find podcasts. Spread the word for us on this one. Help us grow our show by exposing others to what we do in this endearing way.
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Is Tennessee Baseball Walking Into A Trap In Gainesville? We're about to find out this weekend but it sure feels that way. Tennessee has played 3 bad (at least by this team's standards) offensive games in a row and something feels off. Meanwhile a couple of bullpen arms are struggling right now. Plus Florida literally hasn't won a series in a month. This feels like a real trap Tennessee is walking into.
Tennessee Is Seeing A Real Superstar This Weekend At Florida Jac Caglianone is the truth. The guy is an awesome hitter while holding down Florida's 3rd starter spot. He's a special talent. Somehow he's going to be up for for the Golden Spikes Award but he's nowhere near the SEC Player Of The Year. That's the kind of season we're seeing from some guys like Charlie Condon, Montgomery, Christian Moore ... etc ...
Chris Burke On Florida's Freaky Jac Caglianone: 'I know we had a little fun on here last year when I called him College Ohtani. I don't know that there's ever been a more talented player in college baseball. Now, think about this for a second. He has the highest home run from a launch angle standpoint. He hit one 56 degrees at the College World Series. Obviously the wind was blowing out. It was the highest home run ever recorded. He has the farthest home run ever recorded. And when I say ever I'm talking college, Major League and minor league baseball. The Statcast era covers all those levels of baseball and he has the farthest home run ever recorded at 516 feet. There was a great article written at MLB.COM on the famous Ted Williams home run that is still denoted with a red seat in Fenway Park. Caglianone hit it farther than that.
'Then you have his pitching. His fastball tops out at 99 miles per hour. Even though he usually pitches around 93 to 94 with his fastball. On his pitching ... Put it this way ... If he wasn't pitching for them in that Sunday role, they'd have zero chance to make the NCAA Tournament. That's how much he means to them on the mound. As for his hitting he set the modern day record with home runs in a season at 33. Even though that record is going to get broken this year by a few guys including himself. He has the record for home runs hit in consecutive games at 9. He hasn't struck out in 50 at bats. He's going to be taken in the top 3 picks (of the MLB Draft). And somehow he's going to get off campus without ever winning the conference player of the year.
'I think it's worth gushing about him every chance I get because he really is a unicorn. He can run. He can play first base (at a high level). If you were watching the game we did the other night we had Dave Van Horn on the headset and he hit a ground ball to second base. We had Dave on the air and he said "guys I think that's the hardest ground ball I've ever seen hit in my life in a game". And we said well it's funny you would say that because we have it registered at 115 miles per hour. My point is Caglianone is worth flipping on and watching. If he's on TV he truly could do anything you've never seen before,' Burke said.
Chris Burke On Florida: 'Florida's pitching is rounding into shape. But they've got one of those deals going right now where when they pitch they don't hit and when they hit they don't pitch. I do think they're going to win one of these marquee series down the stretch. They have Tennessee and Kentucky then they finish up with Georgia. I think they're going to be either Tennessee or Kentucky. I think they're going to make the tournament and I think they're going to be very scary for somebody. Even though their offense is too home run dependent, their pitching is trending in the right direction. And they have A LOT of talent on that roster with a bunch of dudes that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. I feel pretty bullish on their chances to get into the NCAA Tournament.'
My Read On Florida & The Vols There This Weekend: I'm always on guard against the teams that kind of muddle around during the season yet are very talented and capable on both sides of the in terms of hitting and pitching. Plus they have perhaps the superstar of the sport. Florida feels like a potential gathering storm. Now Florida might not put it together. For all I know Tennessee could go down there and put them out of their misery over the next three games. I do know this ... If Florida was a stock, I think I'd buy them because they can pretty much only go up from here. I think Tennessee needs to be careful this weekend.
This is going to be a very challenging series versus a desperate opponent. And as I observed above, Tennessee just doesn't look right at this point in time. Tony Vitello told us the other day on the air that this is the time of the year that it's go time but yet it's a long season. This feels like it's going to be a potentially tough weekend trip.
Burke On Charlie Condon Of Florida: 'Jac Caglianone, who I've already laid out is a unicorn freaky player, has no chance of winning SEC Player Of The Year because Charlie Condon is putting together one of the greatest seasons ever recorded. It's absurd. I saw somewhere that his home run rate is higher than Barry Bonds the year he hit 73. He's hitting a home run something like every 6 at bats. A&M (put four outfielders in the outfield last week for one of his at bats) needed somebody over in the Student Activities Center.
'The guy has played a little over a year and a half, and he's already broken the school record for home runs. The record 54 was held by Gordon Beckham, who's an accomplished major league baseball player. And he's such a neat story. He plays all these different positions. He's a walk on. He was going to play at Rhodes College. He was going to play QB and baseball at Rhodes College before Georgia offered him a preferred walk on spot. Next time you get Tony Vitello on the show ask him about Charlie Condon. I'm not going to give it away but see what he tells you.'
Tennessee Tennis Anyone? Vols Host NCAA Tourney In Knoxville This Weekend: Tennessee plays ETSU at 1:00 on Friday. Win that and play UNC vs Memphis winner at 4:00 Saturday over at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Vols are the #7 overall national seed. If they win the first 2 matches this weekend, they will host a match in round of 16. Is that any good?
Johannus Monday was just named SEC Player of the Year for the second season in a row. He was just named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship.
Shunsuke Mitsui is Tennessee's No. 2 singles guy who was just named first team All-SEC. Also a great player.
Tennessee only lost 2 SEC matches in the regular season. At Texas A&M and at Kentucky. UK is the SEC regular season and tournament champion. The Vols are rolling Into the NCAA Tournament. Vols were upset by 10 seed S Carolina in the conference tournament semi finals. TN was #2 in conference tournament.
The final 8 teams go to Stillwater, Oklahoma to play for a national championship.
Kadoos to Chris Woodruff and his team for continuing to be a pillar of sustained excellence on Tennessee's campus. Woody was insane yesterday as part of our TLD Logistics Overdrive Overtime. I'm going to share a few quotes here tomorrow from him that fired me up, focused me and prepared me. Boom.
GBO & Go Sixers
Tone
ICYMI from Wednesday: TLD Logistics Tennessee Baseball Report Online at TLDLogistics.com and @Drive4TLD
Matt Dixon
'Voltello's Upset By Lipscomb: Lipscomb hit four home runs and held Tennessee to just two runs over the final seven innings in a 9-6 upset win over the Volunteers at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday night.
Tennessee fell to 37-8 after their first non-conference home loss of the season.
Lipscomb led the game off with a double down the left field line. That runner would come around to score on a RBI single to give the Bisons an early 1-0 lead.
Tennessee wasted no time responding, as the first four Vols hitters reached in a variety of different ways.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Dean Curley grounded into a 6-4-3 double play but Tennessee took a 2-1 lead.
Colby Backus led off the bottom of the 2nd with a double. After he advanced to 3rd on a Christian Moore fly out and Dalton Bargo walked and stole 2nd base, Blake Burke brought both runners in on a 2-out, 2-run double that hit off the diving shortstop’s glove.
Lipscomb cut the Vols’s lead to 4-2 in the top of the 3rd with a solo home run. It was the first extra base hit Tennessee’s Marcus Phillips had allowed all season.
After a 1-out walk in the top of the 4th, the Bisons got back-to-back doubles — one down each line — to tie the game at 4-4.
With a runner on 2nd, Phillips got consecutive strikeouts to end the frame.
Tennessee stranded a runner at 3rd to end the 4th, then Lipscomb’s Alex Vergara led off the top of the 5th with his 2nd home run of the game to put the Bisons up 5-4.
Billy Amick and Dylan Dreiling had nearly identical fly outs to the warning track in centerfield in the bottom of the 5th.
After the Vols stranded another runner at 3rd in the 5th, Lipscomb once again hit a solo home run to lead off the next inning.
This no-doubter into the left field porches gave the Bisons a 6-4 lead.
Lipscomb’s 2nd solo home run of the inning put them up 7-4.
Tennessee loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 7th but could only get one run across.
The Bisons added two insurance runs in the 8th to take a 9-5 lead.
Billy Amick’s 17th home run of the season in the bottom of the 9th made it 9-6. The solo shot was sandwiched in-between warning track fly outs by Burke and Dreiling.
Notes: — Dylan Loy made his 4th midweek start for the Vols. The freshman lefty gave up one run on three hits in two innings of work but took the loss, his first of the season.
— Frank Anderson was back in the dugout for Tuesday’s game. The Vols pitching coach missed the last two games of the Missouri series due to a sick family member.
— After hitting 121 home runs in their first 42 games this season, the Vols have hit just one homer in their last three games.
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Curiously, Nate Snead entered the game with one out and a runner at 2nd in the 8th inning with the Vols trailing 8-5. It was Snead’s first midweek appearance since March 5th vs Kansas State, which was before SEC play began.
— Tennessee now travels to Gainesville for a Thursday through Saturday series with the Gators. Florida is just 23-21 overall and 9-12 in SEC play but have the best two-way player in the country in Jac Caglianone. The Gators’ game three starter is 5-0 with a 4.10 ERA on the mound while hitting .404 with 26 home runs at the plate.
@Mattdixon3'
Kevin Brockway Gainesville Sun Previewing Florida Series: Kevin Brockway joined with an honest assessment of Florida in the eve of a crucial series for them.
Start 6-3 take 2-3 from LSU and it looks promising. Haven't won an SEC Series since Miss St. Got swept at Missouri.
Brendon Neeley moved from closer to starter and that has destabilized their bullpen.
Caglione 26 home runs. Arkansas intentionally walked him 6 times. Then they had to pitch to him with the bases loaded.
Caglione is also their best pitcher as well.
Need to win 7-8 at home schedule
Pitching staff walks a lot of guys.
Florida averages 7 runs per game. They do strike out a lot. They don't run the bases well. Analytics have devalued base running. It seems like a lost art.
O Sullivan hasn't had a six game losing streak since 2013. Then you have FSU sweeping them. April was brutal. These guys are searching for answers. Pitchers have struggled with location.
Florida needs 2 of 3 or their 10-15. They need to win the series. The schedule is really rough down the stretch. They've lost 4 straight series.
They get 2-3 from Vols & 2-3 from Kentucky and two midweek games. They need to go 6-8.
'X' our UT Football Expert and UT Recruiting Expert breaks down Tennessee's latest football commitment ... 'X' LOVES Tennessee's latest addition from Memphis.
'X' Says
'Tennessee picked up its 9th football commitment Monday afternoon when Memphis Sheffield wide receiver Radarious Jackson announced his commitment in front of family and friends.
Jackson is the second wide receiver in the 2025 class and the 4th prospect from the state of Tennessee. Whatever Tennessee’s formula is for prospect evaluation it’s working. Tennessee beat many of its staunchest on field competitors to the draw in identifying Jackson as a prospect and striking up a relationship. Tennessee had a bit of a head start on other colleges in Jackson’s recruitment. You see Jackson and Tennessee quarterback commitment George McIntyre are teammates on one of the best 7 on 7 teams in the south.
As a junior at Sheffield, he had a phenomenal season. As a junior he caught 30 passes for 696 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 782 yards and nine touchdowns. He just isn’t a wide receiver either. As a defensive back he was in 60 plus tackles and had 7 interceptions.
By the end of his junior season, Jackson had amassed some 25 offers. His finalists were Auburn, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. Notice all 4 of Jackson’s finalists are up tempo fast paced offenses. Offenses that are reliant on speed to stretch defenses. Jackson’s athleticism is obvious. He is yet another commitment who plays multiple sports. Jackson is a member of Sheffield’s basketball team as well as a member of the school’s track team.
He was the best player on the field in every game tape I watched. He runs by the defense; he changes directions with ease and without slowing down; he sees the field well; and has the ability to make tough catches. The concerns are he needs to get bigger and stronger (which he will … he will be an 18-year-old during his freshman year at Tennessee), and he needs to work on running better routes (which he will).
It really doesn’t matter where the recruiting services have Jackson rated. Outside of current Tennessee quarterback commitment George McIntyre I’m not sure there was a higher priority target on Tennessee’s recruiting board than Radarious Jackson. By the end of the football season, Jackson will push George McIntyre as the top football prospect in the state of Tennessee for 2025.
I can’t remember a recruiting cycle where at the end of April Tennessee had received commitments from the quarterback and wide receiver at the top of their respective recruiting board. With the commitment last week of Sidney Walton and now Radarious Jackson, Tennessee has set the wheels in motion for a productive late spring and summer recruiting run up to fall practice.
If Jackson is able to accumulate comparable offensive numbers during his senior season, he will move himself into consideration as one of the top wide receivers in the country. He may not receive as much fanfare after committing to Tennessee so early in the recruiting cycle.
I will say this in closing, Radarious Jackson is a really good prospect. He is so good Tennessee will need to continue to recruit him all the way to signing day. Jackson will be one of the best players in Tennessee’s class regardless of whether he commits in April or December.
I'll be back next week with a full report ...
'X'
'X' Says
'X' Orange & White Game Report ...
It certainly was a beautiful spring Saturday in Knoxville. What a setting to celebrate the completion of another spring of practice football for the Tennessee Volunteers. The Orange & White game, fully scripted so as not to divulge any state secrets to the 12 opponents on the 2024 schedule, was largely as anticipated ….. uneventful. The best news is there were no major injuries on Saturday. Most of the players who had been nursing an injury didn’t even dress for the game.
Tennessee showed just enough of Nico on Saturday to sustain fan excitement until the end of July. The head coach sure has more courage than I do.
After Nico’s first pass play where the offensive line and DeSean Bishop decided not to block anyone, Nico would have spent the rest of the afternoon standing beside me if that was my dime and dance floor.
Takeaways from Saturday and Spring Practice Generally Nico still has plenty to improve upon. Sure, it’s a spring game I get it… Gaston Moore though looked more comfortable in getting the offense from one play to the next play compared to Nico. I expect him to be better at this in the fall.
The roster is better. The secondary is more athletic, the bodies are bigger and more athletic on both lines of scrimmage, and the wide receiver group, minus Squirrel White and Bru McCoy who both return for fall practice, looked bigger and more explosive.
A couple of non-descript things stood out to me in a spring game. Senior Omari Thomas, by all accounts Tennessee's best interior defensive lineman, chased down a running back 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Back up offensive lineman Ayden Bussell left the game with a shoulder injury. An injury in a spring game usually signals the end of the afternoon for most players. Bussell returned to action a few plays later. I bet you that caught the attention of both the offensive line coach and the head coach.
Tennessee offensive specialists handled the ball without turning it over. With all the changing personnel parts of a spring game and the quarterbacks didn’t botch a handoff or throw an interception. The running backs and wide receivers secured the ball. Game execution was spot on.
I do not know what to make of the back-up running back situation. Coaches have been singing the praises of both backups all spring. I saw nothing from either Saturday that made me comfortable. What I did see were missed blocking assignments, tentative running, and lack of explosive plays. One of the storylines for the next few weeks is whether Tennessee pursues a running back in the portal.
Josh Heupel is quietly telling his media that Seldon is out until early September. My advice is to add a month to what he is saying publicly and that is when you can reasonably expect Cam Seldon to be healthy enough to return. We know from watching Jabari Small suffer through a lingering shoulder issue that you have to be careful with that injury literally from series to series.
Tennessee has an abundance of riches on the defensive line. You just have the feeling Tennessee might try and redshirt a couple of those interior players when more playing time is available in 2025.
The secondary is an unknown. The “group” is more athletic, but will the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach allow the players to play through some inevitable mistakes or will they play it safe.
If Keenan Pili is healthy, the defense will be plenty good enough. When healthy he is one of Tennessee's best defenders and one of the best linebackers in the conference. He also brings a calming influence on the younger linebackers. Sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Telander is one of Tennessee’s most improved players this spring He took full advantage of being healthy and hitting it off with the new position coach. He made a strong case for starting beside Pili this fall.
Others Who Stood Out
Gaston Moore looks like a capable backup quarterback. I want Nico to make it through the season healthy. If he happened to miss a series or two, Gaston is capable of running the offense.
Mike Matthews doesn’t look like a freshman wide receiver. The long touchdown catch was nice, but I noticed his blocking on Saturday. He was a willing blocker and didn’t shy away from contact at all. The fact that he is a willing blocker and is explosive to boot almost guarantees him playing time next season.
Sham Umarov. Umarov looks like he is furthest along in terms of development of any of the other young offensive linemen. So much so that Umarov has jumped into the competition for the starting left guard position this fall.
Edwin Spillman and Boo Carter. Both true freshmen with a lot to learn. Both flashed here and there Saturday. Those plays should excite fans for their respective futures at Tennessee.
Portal Transfer Jakobe Thomas. His athleticism is something the secondary has been missing. He showed up a lot Saturday.
Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Nathan Robinson. He has put in work in the offseason program. He looks like a completely different player physically than a year ago. Coach Garner will find a way to get Robinson into the rotation this fall.
Lingering Injury Questions You don’t take a chance with any injured player being counted on in the fall. The following injuries though seem problematic.
Tight end Ethan Davis. Davis is as talented a tight end prospect that has played at Tennessee in recent time. He can’t stay healthy. He was held out of the spring game as a precaution. He was injured in the spring game last year and he missed his first season at Tennessee recovering from shoulder surgery. Davis has missed more time with injury than he has practicing. I really want to see him healthy because he can be a difference maker. The tight end position is so important a position to the offense that keeping Davis healthy is a huge concern.
Right tackle John Campbell. Campbell is a key member of the offensive line. Him being healthy and available is important to the offensive. He hasn’t been healthy frankly since mid-season last season. He missed time leading up to the spring game with injury and he reinjured himself in warmups Saturday and was held out as a precaution.
Cam Seldon. His injury is the worst news of the spring. He is such a key piece to the offense. Josh Heupel is telling his media confidantes that Seldon is out until early September. My advice. Add a month. Therefore, you can reasonably expect Cam Seldon to be healthy enough to return in late September or early October. After watching Jabari Small suffer through a lingering shoulder issue for 3 seasons you hold your breath every time the kid takes contact.
Wrapping Things Up ... It's Portal Time In Tennessee:
The transfer portal opens Monday and I’m holding my breath. I do expect Tennessee players to enter the portal. With the money flying around in the NIL market, Tennessee needs to continue to manage its current roster.
I’m watching the defensive line including the pass rushers. Likely the deepest and best in the SEC. You can’t discount other programs who have depth issues at those positions coming after one or more of the experienced linemen with offers that would be hard to turn down.
And how active will Tennessee be when the portal opens? A running back or depth at linebacker isn’t out of the question. And ... how do they feel about Ethan Davis’s recent spate of injuries? Can you find an experienced tight end who can pick up the pace of this offense in a few months?
Tennessee didn’t solve its left guard position this spring. Sham Umarov had a good enough spring to surpass a couple of guys in the competition who were limited because of injury. Also returning offensive linemen Jackson Lampley, Cooper Mays, Andrej Karic, Larry Johnson, Javontez Spraggins, Masai Reddick, and John Campbell all missed some or all of spring practice. The coaches don’t seem to be worried. I should note though at least half of that group have been nursing one injury or another since coming to campus.
'X'
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