Tennessee

Illinois’ Brad Underwood on Facing Tennessee: ‘What Better Way to Prepare?’

Published

1 year ago

December 14, 2024

Illinois’ Brad Underwood on Facing Tennessee: ‘What Better Way to Prepare?’

One of the most-discussed topics around Illinois basketball over the past six months or so – aside from the team’s roster turnover and brilliant first-year talent – has been the schedule. Coach Brad Underwood knew that his 2024-25 Illini would have a chance to be very good – but likely with a small window in which to do it. He knew he needed to test them early.

Two more things: First, he knew Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. who led his teams to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments across stints at Clemson and Texas, and for whom Underwood had a front-row seat while serving on the Kansas State staff from to 2007-2012. And the other thing?

Underwood knew that iron sharpens iron.

So when he got together with Barnes to schedule the Volunteers for Saturday’s game at Champaign’s State Farm Center (4:30 p.m. CT, on FOX), Underwood had no idea they would be lining up a marquee weekend-afternoon matchup with the No. 1 team in the country. Many of the pieces just fell into place. What the Illini coach knew was that the Vols gave him a chance to line up his guys against some of the toughest mugs he knew in a Pizza Hut parking lot throwdown.

“To be really honest, when Rick and I set the this up, I jumped at it,” Underwood said after Illinois’ Tuesday home win over Wisconsin. “I couldn’t wait, because I have I’ve known Rick for a long time, knowing when he was at Texas and in the [Big 12] and had [Kevin] Durant and that whole crew, and I know how hard he gets his teams to play. I know how demanding he is as a coach. He’s won so many games. He’s won at every stop. So what better way to prepare my team?”

If somehow that had slipped below Underwood’s radar previously, he got a reminder last season, when his then-20th-ranked Illini visited Knoxville and took their lumps against the then-No. 17 Vols, who outrebounded Illinois and held it to 35.4 percent shooting from the floor to win 86-79.

“It was a hard fought game. They won. And, you know, he’s always going to have a good team,” Underwood said of Barnes, whose 815 career wins ranks him No. 13 on the all-time list. “He’s got resources. He’s got guys back. What better way to help us? And it just so happens now that they’re No. 1. You know, they were always going to probably be top 10.

“But that’s the tremendous respect I have for Rick and the job he’s done. And I think it’s a great opportunity for our basketball team to play against a great team, who just happens to be No. 1.”

Knocking off the NCAA’s top-ranked team – which Illinois has pulled off only three other times in its history – would be fun for the fans and a hell of an attention-grabbed for recruits and the NCAA Tournament committee. Underwood knows, among other things, the importance of those factors.

“But they’re also a team that can be in that national championship conversation,” he said.

And as he has become so fond of saying, that’s the new standard in Champaign. If the Illini want to be part of that conversation, here and now is where and when they prove it.

How to Watch: Illinois Basketball vs. No. 1 Tennessee (Game 10)

ESPN Prediction for Illinois Basketball vs. No. 1 Tennessee

Key Matchup: Illinois vs. Tennessee – the Battle of the Backcourts

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Tennessee

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

Published

7 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

19 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.