Tennessee

Cade Phillips is a star role player for Tennessee basketball. How he’s affecting the Vols

Published

1 year ago

December 4, 2024

Cade Phillips is a star role player for Tennessee basketball. How he’s affecting the Vols

Cade Phillips was 40 feet away from the rim when he pointed at it Tuesday.

The Tennessee basketball forward saw what was going to happen when he was still a long ways off. Guard Zakai Zeigler had the ball on the opposite wing when Phillips pointed. He held his left arm high as Zeigler then tossed a lob from the elbow.

Phillips sailed, snared it with two hands and slammed it. The sophomore played it perfectly — just as he has been doing often this season in his increasingly essential role.

“When Cade checks in, it is just like a boost of energy,” senior guard Chaz Lanier said. “He is super athletic — probably one of the most athletic people I have played with. Just a boost of energy and intensity.”

Phillips is a star as a role player for Tennessee, which was on full display again for No. 3 Tennessee (8-0) as it smashed Syracuse (4-3) by a score of 96-70 on Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

How Cade Phillips is starring in his role for Tennessee

Phillips can define the core of his role well.

“I think is is to be as versatile on both ends of the floor as possible,” Phillips said.

There is something to be said for a player who knows his role. There is even more to be said for a player who does it well. Phillips deserves recognition for both during Tennessee’s torrid eight-game start to the season.

“The more and more he is out there … he is feeling more and more at ease doing some things,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said.

Offensively, Phillips maximizes who he is as a 6-foot-9 forward. He runs and cuts hard. He is strong enough now to bump defenders with a hard dribble and score through contact — he did both in his 10-point first half Tuesday. He’s a solid floor-spacer.

On the other end, the Alabama native is a potentially diabolical defender. Barnes has voiced the Vols view Phillips as a Jahmai Mashack-caliber player. In other words, Phillips can guard all five positions on the court but as a forward. That ability comes from athleticism and length.

He rebounds ferociously on both ends and it is an innate skill for him.

But it all comes back to versatility.

“As the season is progressing, I am getting more and more comfortable I feel like,” Phillips said.

What is next for Cade Phillips?

Phillips wasn’t supposed to play last season. He was going to redshirt then the senior pair of Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James insisted Phillips would help the Vols. He did early as a freshman then his role diminished later in the season.

Vescovi’s reasoning was Phillips was so active he could play immediately. That is what earned Phillips trust. That remains part of the process.

“It gets down to the more consistency you get doing certain things, you earn trust,” Barnes said. “Not only I think with your coaches and your teammates, but most importantly with yourself. You realize I have this down now and I can take another step.

“We have watched Cade do that.”

Phillips is averaging 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, a stellar stat line as he splits time between UT’s two forward positions. He is tied for the team lead with 20 offensive rebounds, which is more than his 18 defensive rebounds. He has nine blocks and only nine fouls, a great ratio to possess.

Barnes expects that an expanded offensive game is out there for Phillips. That’ll be a process. The immediate focus is handling success well as it keeps coming.

“Cade is going to do everything he can,” Barnes said. “He has got a little bit of a stubborn streak where when he messes up, he wants to come back and fix it right away.”

On second thought, it’s something else — and something central to Phillips perfecting his role as he develops.

“It is probably more of a competitive spirit,” Barnes.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

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Tennessee

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

Published

8 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Press Room

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WSMV) – Three Memphis voters, through the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee leaders, claiming the state’s new congressional maps are discriminating against Black voters.

The ACLU announced the lawsuit on Monday, saying that three organizations — the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Equity Alliance, are also part of the lawsuit that was filed against Sec. of State Tre Hargett, Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and several others.

“In May 2026, over the course of mere days, a White-dominated supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly redrew Tennessee’s congressional map to crack the predominantly Black city of Memphis into three pieces and destroy the only district in which Black voters are able to elect representatives of their choice, shutting Black voters completely out of power in federal elections in Tennessee,” the filing states.

The ACLU and the other plaintiffs echo arguments made by Democrats while the maps were being debated during last week’s special session: “The cracking of Memphis unlawfully targeted Black voters.”

“The new plan carves through the center of Tennessee’s second largest city, dividing neighborhoods that have voted together for decades, splitting numerous counties and precincts, and cutting the Black population into thirds with suspect precision,” the lawsuit says. “The districts then run hundreds of miles east towards the Nashville suburbs, snaking through predominantly White and rural counties to dilute the voting power of now-divided Black Memphians.”

Gov. Bill Lee signed the new congressional map into law last week. The new map splits Shelby County, home of Memphis, into three districts.

Republicans have said the map modernizes the districting process and removes “racial data from the mapmaking process entirely.” Democrats, on the other hand, say that the move is meant to dismantle the Black-majority district.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R) told WSMV that Republicans “have been very clear” on their intention to secure a ninth Republican seat in the state. He has said the map would help “ensure the state’s representation in Washington reflects its conservative values.”

The lawsuit draws significant attention to the racial makeup of Tennessee lawmakers, describing, “White control over Tennessee politics.” Plaintiffs allege that a white majority “faction” of state leaders “gave bizarre, robotic answers to the most basic questions about the map they were sponsoring.”

“None of the sponsors of the plan would admit who actually drew it, and the lead Senate sponsor—a White legislator with over a decade of service in the Tennessee General Assembly who had attended law school in Memphis — would not say whether Memphis was predominantly Black and claimed not to know that Congressional District 9 was a majority- Black district,” the filing says.

They seem to be referencing Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon), who was asked during the special session if he was aware that the majority of the residents in the ninth district are Black.

“I’m not aware,” he responded. “I know how the map is divided, but I don’t know the racial makeup of the map.”

Stevens got his juris doctorate from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The three Memphis residents who took part in the lawsuit are Amber Sherman, a lifelong resident of Memphis and the lead Tennessee regional organizer for Black Voters Matter Fund, Rachael Spriggs, a Memphis resident for more than 20 years who is the director of Power Building for the Equity Alliance, and Kermit Moore, a nearly lifelong resident of Memphis who is the president of the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.

The lawsuit claims intentional discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments, as well as retaliation for protected expression and association in violation of the First Amendment.

Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the newly drawn map is unconstitutional and restore district lines before primary elections proceed.

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Tennessee

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Published

20 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Tennessee State Senators Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain and Bo Watson of Hixson spoke today about the new law supporting police K-9’s.

The act allows injured dogs to get stabilization services on-site and then be transported via ambulance or helicopter to a vet hospital.

“In the past, officers were basically putting the k9 in their car and transporting them in their in their own vehicle, they didn’t have an ambulance or an air ambulance,” said Senator Watson. “This allows for an air ambulance. It also allows for a educational program for those in EMS, who will be taught how to manage canines emergency medical condition, which is different than a human’s.”

In April, Erlanger flew a K9 officer from Clay County, to North Carolina.

It was the first time the program was used for a live transport after several training runs.

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Tennessee

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee softball’s path back to the Women’s College World Series is set. On Sunday night, the Lady Vols were named the No. 7 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and will host the regional stage in Knoxville as it looks to return to the WCWS in back-to-back seasons.

The Lady Vols are matched up with Virginia, Indiana and Northern Kentucky in the regionals. It would play Georgia, Clemson, UNC Greensboro or Charleston in the super regionals.

Ahead of the tournament, here’s a look at each team in the Knoxville Regional and potential matchups for the ensuing best-of-three super regional if Tennessee advances.