Latest news with #FelixOkpara
USA Today
01-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Tennessee basketball early potential transfers for 2025-26 roster
Tennessee basketball early potential transfers for 2025-26 roster Tennessee's exit from the 2025 NCAA Tournament marked the beginning of a critical month during the offseason to assemble its roster for the 2025-26 basketball season. The NCAA transfer portal opened March 24 and will close after 30 days. Over 1,000 players have entered the transfer portal during the first week. Tennessee is only set to retain center Felix Okpara from its 2024-25 starting lineup. Additional Tennessee returnees for the 2025-26 season include guard Bishop Boswell, and forwards Cade Phillips and J.P. Estrella. The Vols' incoming freshmen class is composed of guards Amari Evans and Troy Henderson, along with center DeWayne Brown. The NCAA has increased basketball scholarship limits from 12 to 15, allowing for Tennessee to sign as many as eight players during the offseason. Below is an early look at players in the NCAA transfer portal who could be targets for the Vols. Tennessee basketball early potential transfers for 2025-26 roster Isaac McKneely McKneely was one of Virginia's top players offensively in the 2024-25 season. He started 32 games for the Cavaliers and averaged 14.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Class: Junior Height: 6-foot-4 Weight: 195 pounds High school: Poca High School (Poca, West Virginia) Ja'Kobi Gillespie Gillespie has ties to Tennessee in college and high school. He played his first two seasons of college basketball at Belmont and is from Greeneville, Tennessee. Gillespie was a part of Maryland's "Crab Five" team that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. He averaged 14.7 points per game and a team-high 4.8 assists per contest, while shooting 40.7 percent in three-point attempts. Class: Junior Height: 6-foot-1 Weight: 186 pounds High school: Greeneville High School (Greeneville, Tennessee)
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Have Tennessee, Kentucky ever played in NCAA Tournament? Vols, Wildcats 242nd game will be a first
Tennessee basketball and Kentucky have played 241 times in 115 years. The 242nd meeting will be a first. The Vols and Wildcats are meeting for the first time in an NCAA Tournament when No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 3 seed Kentucky play in the Sweet 16 on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. A game time and TV designation for the March Madness game between the Vols (29-7) and Wildcats (24-11) have yet to be announced. Tennessee lost both regular-season matchups this season, losing 78-73 at Food City Center on Jan. 28 and falling 75-63 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 11. Tennessee and Kentucky have played since 1910, but have never met in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have never played an SEC team before in the tournament. The NCAA Tournament allowed one team per conference in the field until 1975 when it expanded to a 32-team field. The NCAA bracketing procedure typically aims to avoid matchups between conference foes in March Madness. That was complicated this season by the SEC getting 14 teams in the field. Tennessee, Kentucky and No. 9 seed Georgia were all placed in the Midwest Regional. Texas played in a play-in game as a No. 11 seed. The West Regional featured No. 1 seed Florida, No. 6 seed Missouri, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 seed Arkansas. The South Regional had No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 4 seed Texas A&M and No. 6 Ole Miss. The East Regional included No. 2 seed Alabama, No. 8 seed Mississippi State and No. 10 seed Vanderbilt. FELIX: How Felix Okpara escaped international basketball's 'dark side' — and found family in Tennessee Kentucky has a 163-78 edge in the all-time series against Tennessee. The Vols are 11-12 against the Wildcats under coach RIck Barnes. They have a 2-1 record in neutral-site meetings with the Wildcats under Barnes. They lost in the SEC Tournament finals in 2018 against Kentucky. They won in the SEC Tournament semifinals in 2019 and 2022 against UK. Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @ If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Kentucky in Sweet 16 is first NCAA Tournament meeting
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Where Tennessee is ranked in latest college basketball polls before March Madness
Tennessee basketball is the No. 6 team in the polls entering the NCAA Tournamnet. The Vols (27-7) are ranked sixth in the USA TODAY coaches poll and the Associated Press poll. They jumped to No. 6 in the AP poll, while remaining sixth in the coaches poll. The Vols earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will face No. 15 Wofford (19-15) on Thursday (6:50 p.m. ET, TNT) in Lexington, Kentucky, as part of the Midwest Region. The Vols were ranked No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll. UT moved up to No. 9 after starting the season 2-0 with wins against Gardner-Webb and at Louisville. It stayed No. 9 after moving to 4-0. Tennessee rolled through the Baha Mar Championship with wins against Virginia and Baylor to reach 6-0 and rise to No. 6. It hopped to No. 3 after beating UT Martin before ascending to No. 1. The Vols spent a program-record five weeks as the No. 1 team. They fell to No. 6 from the top spot after their 30-point loss at Florida on Jan. 7. They fell to No. 7 after losing at Vanderbilt on Jan. 18 and to No. 8 after losing at Auburn on Jan. 25. They jumped to No. 4 after beating Florida 64-44 and held the spot the following week. They slipped to No. 6 after losing at Kentucky. UT jumped back into the top 5 after winning at Texas A&M and rose to No. 4 after beating Alabama. It dropped to No. 6 after losing at Ole Miss. FELIX: How Felix Okpara escaped international basketball's 'dark side' — and found family in Tennessee Tennessee has been ranked for 79 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press poll, the second-longest active streak in the nation. It has been ranked nonstop since the start of the 2021-22 season. The previous program record for consecutive weeks ranked was 37. The Vols have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll 37 times in the past seven seasons, including 10 times this season. They had been ranked in the top five 17 times in the previous 70 years of the poll. Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @ If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Where Tennessee is ranked in latest college basketball polls
USA Today
15-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Tennessee advances to SEC Tournament title game after Auburn win
Tennessee advances to SEC Tournament title game after Auburn win No. 4 seed Tennessee (27-6) defeated No. 1 seed Auburn (28-5), 70-65, in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Vols advance to the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday. Tennessee will face the winner between No. 2 seed Florida and No. 3 seed Alabama. Saturday's contest featured 18 lead changes and the game was tied eight times between Tennessee and Auburn. The Vols led for 27 minutes, three seconds. Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee in scoring with 20 points, while also leading the Vols in assists (4). He converted 5-of-11 field goal attempts, 1-of-6 three-point attempts and 9-of-9 free throw attempts. Felix Okpara was Tennessee's leading rebounder with nine. Tennessee converted 25-of-27 free throw attempts and out-rebounded Auburn, 35-27. Auburn center Johni Broome led all scorers with 23 points. He also recorded seven rebounds, one assist and two steals in 34 minutes. 2024-25 Tennessee Vols basketball schedule results Oct. 27 versus Indiana (L, 66-62 — exhibition) Nov. 4 versus Gardner-Webb (W, 80-64) Nov. 9 at Louisville (W, 77-55) Nov. 13 versus Montana (W, 92-57) Nov. 17 versus Austin Peay (W, 103-68) Nov. 21 versus Virginia (W, 64-42 — Naussau, Bahamas) Nov. 22 versus Baylor (W, 77-62 — Naussau, Bahamas) Nov. 27 versus UT Martin (W, 78-35) Dec. 3 versus Syracuse (W, 96-70) Dec. 10 versus Miami (W, 75-62 — New York, New York) Dec. 14 at Illinois (W, 66-64) Dec. 17 versus Western Carolina (W, 84-36) Dec. 23 versus Middle Tennessee State (W, 82-64) Dec. 31 versus Norfolk State (W, 67-52) Jan. 4 versus Arkansas (W, 76-52) Jan. 7 at Florida (L, 73-43) Jan. 11 at Texas (W, 74-70) Jan. 15 versus Georgia (W, 74-56) Jan. 18 at Vanderbilt (L, 76-75) Jan. 21 versus Mississippi State (W, 68-56) Jan. 25 at Auburn (L, 53-51) Jan. 28 versus Kentucky (L, 78-73) Feb. 1 versus Florida (W, 64-44) Feb. 5 versus Missouri (W, 85-81) Feb. 8 at Oklahoma (W, 70-52) Feb. 11 at Kentucky (L, 75-64) Feb. 15 versus Vanderbilt (W, 81-76) Feb. 22 at Texas A&M (W, 77-69) Feb. 25 at LSU (W, 65-59) March versus Alabama (W, 79-76) March 5 at Ole Miss (L, 78-76) March 8 versus South Carolina (W, 76-65) March 14 versus Texas (W, 83-72 -- Nashville, Tennessee) March 15 versus Auburn (W, 70-65 -- Nashville, Tennessee)
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Zeigler scores 17 and No. 5 Tennessee overcomes LSU's strong defense in a 65-59 victory
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler scored 17 points, Felix Okpara added 15 and No. 5 Tennessee defeated LSU 65-59 on Tuesday night. Chaz Lanier added 14 points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Volunteers (23-5, 10-5 Southeastern Conference), who struggled offensively in the first half but built a 15-point lead on Cade Phillips' free throw with 3:24 left. By the time LSU (14-14, 3-12) trimmed Tennessee's lead down to 64-59, just 11 seconds remained. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Vyctorius Miller scored 17 points and Cam Carter had 12 for LSU, which lost its second straight game against a team ranked in the top five. Takeaways Tennessee: The Volunteers have won six of seven, four of those by single digits. Tennessee outscored LSU 32-20 in the paint. LSU: With hustling perimeter defense and active hands, LSU kept most of the game competitive by holding the Volunteers 4.4% below their usual shooting average of 45.4% and well below their scoring average of 74.7 points this season. The Tigers just couldn't shoot well enough to pull off the kind of SEC stunner that Georgia had against No. 3 Florida earlier in the evening. Key moment After Zeigler hit a driving floater off the glass as he was fouled, he missed his free throw, but Okpara put back the rebound to make it 51-42 with eight minutes left. Tennessee pulled away from there. Key stat Tennessee outrebounded LSU 44-28 and converted 17 offensive rebounds into 27 second-chance points. Up next Both teams play Saturday. Tennessee hosts No. 6 Alabama, while LSU visits No. 24 Mississippi State. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and
