Tennessee

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas recaps Tennessee visit

Published

1 year ago

January 17, 2025

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas recaps Tennessee visit

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas has spent the last 24 hours in Knoxville visiting Tennessee. After the trip, Volquest caught up with him to discuss where things stand in his recruitment.

“I enjoyed everything about it,” Thomas said. “Really the coaches and how everything was organized. How they were just honest and true about everything. I really loved it and loved everything about it and Knoxville so we shall see.”

He was able to spend time with running backs coach De’Rail Sims and those two talked about how he would fit into the running back room and the offense.

“He was real and honest about a lot of things,” Thomas said, “He didn’t sugarcoat anything. That’s what I want to be around my last year. Just being around it and seeing there is no faking. It was real from the start.”

So where do things go from here for Thomas? He has no other trips planned after visiting UCF and Tennessee. He loved what he found on Rocky Top.

“Really just relationships and being around the coaches,” Thomas said. “Getting to know coach Heupel, funny guy and being around the running back coach. Just being around the staff and they really showed they liked me and wanted me.”

Watch the full interview below.

Understanding the portal

The winter transfer portal window runs from December 9-28. The spring portal window runs from April 16-25.

Players don’t have to pick a school they are going to during those specific dates but those are the span of dates on when a player can enter the portal.

Those dates don’t apply to graduate transfers who can enter the portal whenever they wish. Also, if there’s a head coaching change, their players are granted an immediate 30-day window during which they can enter the portal.

Of note, any team playing in a game after Dec 28 (playoffs or regular bowl) gets a five-day window once season ends for those player to enter portal.

So, say a team loses in the CFP first round on Dec 20/21? Their transfer portal window wouldn’t be affected as the regular window ends more than five days after that loss.

Players who enter the portal in the winter window are trying to be somewhere for the spring semester.

For Tennessee the spring semester starts on January 21which is late compared to many schools around the country. Tennessee a year ago started a winter mini-term class that runs the first three weeks of January.

Tennessee has benefitted from the portal

The transfer portal can giveth and it can taketh away. For Josh Heupel it’s been much more of a positive than a negative for the Vols when you look at the 2024 season.

Left tackle Lance Heard has been a fixture on an offense line that has helped the Vols rush for over 2700 yards. Tight end Miles Kitselman has been a terrific portal grab because he is the leader of the tight end room. A room that also includes transfer Holden Staes.

Defensively, Jermod McCoy has been the best transfer Tennessee has gotten. McCoy is having an All-American season.

In total, Tennessee added 10 transfers for the current 2024 roster.

Source link

Tennessee

2026 Tennessee football preview: Grady Dangerfield

Published

20 minutes ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

2026 Tennessee football preview: Grady Dangerfield

Redshirt freshman kicker Grady Dangerfield enters his second season at Tennessee in 2026.

The 6-foot, 215-pound kicker appeared in two games for the Vols in 2025. He recorded 257 yards and three touchbacks on four kickoff attempts against UAB and New Mexico State.

Against the Blazers on Sept. 20, 2025, Dangerfield had three kickoff attempts for 195 yards. He also totaled 62 kickoff yards on one attempt versus New Mexico State on Nov. 15, 2025.

Dangerfield committed to Tennessee in Oct. 2024 over Navy and Virginia Tech. He was a Kohl’s Kicking five-star prospect and the No. 41 ranked kicker in the nation.

Dangerfield went to the Vols from James Island Charter High School in Charleston, South Carolina.

Tennessee will kick off its 2026 football season Sept. 5 versus Furman at Neyland Stadium. The season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+).

The Vols will also host Kennesaw State, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU, while playing at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt during the 2026 campaign.

Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

Source link

Tennessee

Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video

Published

10 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives 6K from strangers for retirement after viral video

A viral Tennessee movie theater worker, 85, was surprised with $146K as strangers rallied together to help her “enjoy retirement.”

Mary Ellen Eron was seen hauling a heavy black garbage bag and pushing a cleaning cart during her shift at the theater in Maryville, Tenn., which has since been viewed more than 13 million times.

“Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman. No one deserves to work at this age,” movie customer Brooklyn Green, who filmed the video, captioned the post.

Green launched a fundraiser last weekend after watching Mary, who has been a movie theater staffer for 45 years, hard at work – even though she’s a stranger.

“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Green told WATE reported. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day.

“Her physical appearance didn’t look too comfortable, especially since the way she was working so hard.”

Green set a target of $200,000 – and she raised $146,317 before pausing donations. More than 7,500 people donated to the charitable cause.

On Wednesday, Green posted the moment that she presented Eron, who helps the homeless and her local church, with the total figures from the crowdfunding page.

“Oh my goodness. That’s a lot of money,” Eron said as she realized the number on the piece of paper.

“That’s a lot of money and you deserve every bit of it,” Green said.

The clip also featured a message from Eron, who addressed the people who had contributed.

“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the GoFundMe,” she said.

“I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”

The theater’s manager revealed it will be Eron’s decision when she retires.

Source link

Tennessee

Tennessee Baseball Breakout Star Announces He Won’t Enter the Transfer Portal

Published

21 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Tennessee Baseball Breakout Star Announces He Won’t Enter the Transfer Portal

The Tennessee Volunteers have had their fair share of bad news as of late when it comes to the college baseball transfer portal, but luckily, they have received some great news.

The great news that they have received is that they will be returning one of their breakout stars from this past college baseball season, as he has no intentions of entering the college baseball transfer portal.

Trent Grindlinger Will Return to Tennessee

Tennessee’s Trent Grindlinger (30) begins to celebrate what he thought was a home run but was eventually called foul during a college baseball game between Tennessee and LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee., on April 3, 2026. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The player who is set to return to Tennessee is Trent Grindlinger, who was electric this season and is expected to be a future top 10 MLB draft pick. This is expected for the first draft that he is eligible for, which is the 2027 MLB Draft rather than this upcoming draft that will feature multiple Vols, including Tennessee ACE, Tegan Kuhns.

Grindlinger finished last season with a batting average of .345, while hitting eight home runs and only striking out 28 times. This would be an electric season for the talented Volunteers’ batter, and he is set for a season that could and should be even better than that, which would be good enough to consider for some major college baseball end-of-the-season awards. He is just one of the few players who opted to stay and return rather than enter their name into the college baseball transfer portal, but if they were going to return anyone, he is the player they would want to return in the field.

Had he entered the transfer portal, there wouldn’t be a single college in the nation that wouldn’t want to add him, as every college would want to add the elite prospect. Not only that, but he would become the nation’s No. 1 player on the portal more than likely.

Luckily for the Vols, though, they don’t have to worry about that.

Follow Our Social Media Accounts

• Follow Vols on SI on X (Click HERE)
• Follow Vols on SI on Facebook (Click HERE)
• Follow Vols on SI on Instagram (Click HERE)
• Subscribe to Vols on SI on YouTube (Click HERE)