Tennessee

Felix Okpara battling hip pointer injury for Tennessee basketball

Published

5 months ago

November 4, 2024

Felix Okpara battling hip pointer injury for Tennessee basketball

Felix Okpara is battling a “serious hip pointer” for Tennessee basketball, coach Rick Barnes said Monday.

Barnes said Okpara refuses to come out of practice, but the injury is bothering the Ohio State transfer. He played 25 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing nine rebounds in No. 12 Tennessee’s season-opening 80-64 win against Gardner-Webb at Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The 6-foot-11 Okpara is part of Tennessee’s starting five. Sophomore J.P. Estrella is the backup, but has been dealing with a foot injury throughout the summer. Barnes said Estrella did not go through shootaround with the Vols and ended up being a game-time decision.

“I think that is a major step for him,” Barnes said. “Is he 100%? No. But I thought his minutes were valuable for us tonight.”

Okpara averaged 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 70 games in two seasons at Ohio State. He started 45 games and entrenched himself as the starting forward as a sophomore. He averaged 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds while blocking 82 shots.

Tennessee has 11 scholarship players this season. It was without two against Gardner-Webb as senior guard Darlinstone Dubar and freshman guard Bishop Boswell did not play.

Dubar, a senior transfer from Hofstra, was out due to a personal matter but is with the team. Boswell, a freshman guard, is in concussion protocol.

Barnes said Dubar’s “timetable is up to him.”

“Tough time for him personally,” Barnes said. “I think he has dealt with it for a while. We love him to death. We miss him. It is up to him. It is all on his time.”

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

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Tennessee

Middle Tennessee schools opening late, closed on Thursday, April 3

Published

3 hours ago

April 3, 2025

Press Room

Middle Tennessee schools opening late, closed on Thursday, April 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the front moves through Middle Tennessee, some school districts have closed or plan to open two hours late on Thursday.

Here are those districts:

Closed

Cheatham County
Dickson County
Hickman County
Humphreys County
Smith County
Stewart County
Sumner County
Trousdale County
Wilson County

One hour late

Macon County (bus driver discretion)

Two hours late

Clarksville-Montgomery County
Houston County
Lebanon Special Schools
Perry County
Robertson County

Do you have more information about this story? You can email newsroom@newschannel5.com.

Meet Trashley! New commercial pays tribute to 1970s Tennessee anti-litter ad

You’ll love her and you’ll love to hate her! Meet Trashley: the bad girl of Nashville littering. She stars in a new campaign that’s a throwback to an anti-litter movement from years past. Her role has been reimagined by NDOT as a fast-paced, Dukes of Hazzard-style wrecking ball of a lady. You’ll find yourself cracking up as you meet the actress behind Trashley and hear how she landed the role of Queen of Trash.

-Rebecca Schleicher

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Tennessee

Severe storms hit parts of Middle Tennessee, Kentucky tonight

Published

15 hours ago

April 2, 2025

Press Room

Severe storms hit parts of Middle Tennessee, Kentucky tonight

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to move into Middle Tennessee early this evening.

Have weather pictures or videos? Share them here.

Download the WSMV 4 First Alert Weather app for iPhone or Android, so you can stay informed on the go and in between newscasts. We share custom videos, plus you can choose to get messages from us on the latest conditions and forecasts.

FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY — TODAY & TONIGHT:

Today is a First Alert Weather Day for gusty wind and a severe weather likelihood tonight.

Strong, gusty wind is likely all afternoon through tonight. A Wind Advisory remains in effect until 4 am. Expect wind gusts to reach 45 mph at times, potentially knocking out power and blowing down tree limbs or possibly even a few trees.

Severe weather is likely for some of you tonight. The greatest chance for severe storms is over northwest Middle Tennessee and southwest Kentucky this evening. Strong to severe thunderstorms will develop there this evening and slide north-northeastward. Tornadoes, hail, and/or damaging wind gusts will be possible with all of those storms. Take some time this afternoon to ensure everyone in your household is aware of this rare, level 5 severe weather threat for part of our area. Prepare your tornado safe place (lowest level, most interior location….basement/bathroom/closet without windows is best). Storms and the severe threat will gradually slide southeastward overnight, reaching Nashville around midnight. Storms will struggle to reach far southeastern Middle Tennessee and could get stuck just north of there. Again, any storms overnight could quickly become severe.

Flooding could develop at anytime as well with the repeated rounds of storms. A Flood Watch starts at 7 pm tonight and continues until 7 am Sunday for most of our area.

FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAYS — TOMORROW THROUGH SATURDAY:

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are all First Alert Weather Days. A Flood Watch will remain in effect for most of the Midstate and southern Kentucky then. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms will drop as much as 10″ of rain by early Sunday morning. The area where the most rain will fall is northwest Middle Tennessee and southwest Kentucky. Remember, turn around and go another way if you encounter a road covered in flood water. If you live near a creek, stream, or river, be prepared to evacuate and move to higher ground.

Thursday will bring showers and storms to the I-40 corridor and northward and communities west of I-65. Any storms could be severe with wind, hail, and isolated tornadoes, but especially those west of Nashville that develop or move in Thursday afternoon and Thursday night.

Friday looks mostly dry across the Midstate. Rain chance, 30%.

A shower or thunderstorm will be possible Saturday, but the main event that day will occur Saturday night when an organized round of strong to severe thunderstorms moves through. Severe weather is likely then anywhere in the Midstate (including southeastern Middle Tennessee).

SUNDAY & BEYOND:

After morning showers, rain will exit Sunday afternoon.

Monday and Tuesday will turn much cooler.

Freezing weather will be possible for some early on Wednesday, but most will have just frost.

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Tennessee

Tennessee baseball handles Tennessee Tech behind trio of home runs

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Press Room

Tennessee baseball handles Tennessee Tech behind trio of home runs

Tennessee baseball’s track record against in-state foe Tennessee Tech hasn’t been the best oddly enough.

This time, the Vols handled business with a 7-1 win.

This marks two-straight wins in the series for Tennessee (27-2) after a poor stretch in both 2022 and 2023, the Vols dropped their matches with the Golden Eagles (17-10). This has now been made up for with wins in both the 2024 and current 2025 campaigns.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Overall, the series sits in Tennessee’s favor by the mark of 74-32-1. The Vols are 48-13 at home with the 2022 loss being on a neutral field in Kodak, Tennessee.

This time, it was a trio of home runs that got the offense going for the Vols. They used swings from Blake Grimmer, Dean Curley and Chris Newstrom to push across six of their seven runs. The only other run to cross came on a series of wild pitches.

Getting the ball to start the Vols was AJ Russell. This was his second appearance of the year following one frame of work earlier in the season which featured him striking out the side.

This time, Russell allowed a hit and struck out two batters to register his second full inning of pitching this year. He threw 12 pitches with 11 going down as strikes.

Following Russell, it turned into another midweek bullpen game. Entering in relief the rest of the way were Michael Sharman, Austin Breedlove, Dylan Loy, Austin Hunley, Brandon Arvidson, Andrew Behnke, Thomas Crabtree, Ryan Combs, Brayden Sharp and Bryson Thacker.

Behnke was the only Tennessee pitcher to allow a run in his frame of work. He went 0.2 innings while allowing three hits and the run to cross.

As a pitching unit, the Vols gave up just eight hits and one run. This came on 13 strikeouts.

WHAT HAPPENED

Russell got the ball to start but allowed his first hit of the season in the opening frame. He worked around this effectively, though, getting out of the inning with no real damage done.

In the bottom of the first, an error put Curley on base. This made way for Grimmer to tee off on a ball over the right-field wall for a two-run shot. This made it a 2-0 advantage after one inning of work.

After an inning of impressive defense, Tennessee’s bats got back to work. The Vols used an Ariel Antigua single and Curley home run to add another two on the board.

In the top of the third, Breedlove ran into some trouble. He loaded the bases with one out due to a double, single and hit-by-pitch. However, he got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

Tennessee added another run after a Dalton Bargo single. Following getting on base, he went to second, third and home to score on three separate wild pitches. Antigua nearly pushed another across on a throwing error but the call on the field was overturned to end the inning.

In the fifth, Tennessee Tech got on the board. The Golden Eagles pushed across a run off Behnke but the damage was limited to just the single score. This made the game 5-1.

The Vols’ bats wouldn’t pick back up until the seventh. After three innings of silence on the scoreboard, Newstrom lifted a ball into the left field porches for a two-run shot. This gave Tennessee a 7-1 cushion with two innings to play.

This would be all the offense the Vols got as the bullpen continued to churn out outs resulting in a six-run win.

UP NEXT

Tennessee will now host Texas A&M in a rematch of last season’s College World Series finals. While the Vols picked up where they finished a year ago, the Aggies sit at 1-8 in SEC play heading into the weekend.

The series will take place Friday through Sunday with pitch times of 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. and 3 p.m. in that order. Friday will be played on ESPNU, Saturday on SECN+ and Sunday on ESPN2.

Then, the Vols match up with Alabama A&M on Tuesday at home before taking to the road to play Ole Miss in Oxford the following weekend.

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