What Rick Barnes said after No. 1 Tennessee beat Norfolk State 67-52 Tuesday afternoon at Food City Center:

How he would assess Tennessee’s offense in the win 

“I thought it was a really good game for us, the kind of game we thought, we knew it was gonna be a low-possession game, that’s how they play. We knew they were going to drive the ball at us. We knew we were going to get a lot of looks and that it’s hard for players to turn down shots when they know they get more daylight than they normally get. And obviously I thought early, I thought we took some quick threes that we shouldn’t have taken, especially from the post position. But otherwise, it played the way I thought. We had a chance to obviously make some threes, but they don’t go down. It changed the game. I didn’t think we did a great job on the glass. I would think them coming in, knowing that we do want to rebound the ball, I thought they really were (terrific). I think they’re a really well-coached team. The program, what they’ve done the last three years and what they’ve done in the past, obviously my time in Northern Virginia back in the day, I know a lot about Norfolk State and that area. And (I have) just great respect for that program. 

“But their defense, we knew they were going to try to slow it down, tempo us. Try to get us not to play in a high-possession game. And they did a good job with that. And it was good for us. Because it’s really kind of what you could see in the first round of the NCAA Tournament game. But our guys stayed with it and just kind of grinded it out.”

Chaz Lanier continuing to make progress in this offense while producing at a high rate 

“Well he is producing, but he’s got to keep going. He’s got to learn to continue to cut harder. He’s got to come off knowing that he doesn’t have, he’s not going to have as much time to get set up and those type things. And obviously people are scouting him and I thought, I do know he’s gotten better defensively, which is something that is important obviously. But he’s going to have to continue to add to speed to his game. We want to get out and run. But I just think he’s got to be able to catch the ball more. I think he had some good looks. What did he shoot from three? 6 of 16? … I thought early he took a couple that weren’t very good, but overall that— and I thought it because he didn’t get set up to answer your question kind of. I thought he just kind of drifted into it and they did a good job closing out where he didn’t get his normal rhythm. But, again, it’s a really good game for us because we talked about how we’ve gotta continue to learn how to guard the ball. Not so much one-on-one, but more as a team where people trying to — we knew they were gonna go downhill hard and they did and did a good job of not fouling them, which we didn’t wanna do that. Other than Z’s five turnovers, again when you’re playing a low possession game, everything gets magnified because of just a low possession game. And every one of those possessions mean that much more. But again, it was good. When we put together our buy games, we want to get challenged. We felt these were two great games to get us ready for conference play and now you can throw it all out. We’re 0-0 like everybody else. Rankings mean nothing. None of it other than maybe people look at it as a way to build their resume right now. But the fact is 0-0 with everybody in the league.”

If he’s comfortable with Tennessee’s minute distribution

“Well, again, in a game like this, Bishop is working his way back. His minutes will go up. He’s had, he practiced really yesterday for the first time and I thought he did well. So we have confidence that his minutes will go up. We just need Dstone and we need Igor. Those guys can shoot the ball. And both of them took not good shots early in the game, just trying to, we don’t worry about them making the three, they’re going to. They’re good shooters, they’ll do it. But if they’re pressing to do that, they’re not. And then Shack’s thumb or finger’s been bothering him and in the second half, I just didn’t think he looked comfortable and that’s why we didn’t play him very much.”

The things he likes most about his Tennessee team heading into SEC play

“Well, I think obviously rebounding. I mean, every game, as I said, takes on its own identity. It plays, and again, today played the way we thought it would play and you’re hoping you’re gonna shoot the ball well ’cause you know you’re gonna get some looks at it. We knew they would change some defenses, show us some different looks, but we wanted to, again, we knew they were gonna really drive the ball as hard as anybody that we played all year. And they’ve got some guys that can finish it well at the rim. But when I look at it in January, I think everything we do (has to improve). I mean we obviously gotta rebound the ball better. Different team coming in here Saturday and then after that, it’s gonna be a different team. 

“So we’re gonna have to adjust from game to game. But there are certain fundamental things that we have gotta improve on. It goes back to ball-screen defense, guarding the basketball, finishing the defensive set. Then on offense, not throwing lifelines, turning the ball over in unnecessary ways. We’ve gotta improve there. What did we shoot from the free throw line today? 10-of-16. So, you know, that’s better than probably what we’ve been shooting. But turnovers, shot selection, valuing that basketball is a high premium that we’ve gotta continue to improve with.”

What makes Tennessee sophomore forward Cade Phillips so good on lob plays and in the pick and roll

“He works and you know, the more he gets out there, you know, his experience, I thought he had a really good day for us. He can jump, he’s more athletic. He’s, as they say, he’s farm strong. People might look at him and think he’s not that strong, but highly competitive. He’s probably improved as much as anybody. I don’t think there’s any question from the last spring to today, he’s improved more than anybody on our team. And the more he’s out there, the more he’s gonna get confident knowing what’s going on. Great teammate, wants to do the right thing, but he’s competitive. Not afraid to stick his nose in there and go after it.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee released 2024 highlights and accomplishments that have contributed to greater opportunity, security and freedom for all Tennesseans.

“Tennessee is a remarkable place with a richness of passionate people of all kinds, an unrivaled culture and deep-rooted traditions,” said Gov. Lee. “We are also a state that is focused on opportunity, security, and freedom for all of her people. For the remainder of my time in office, I believe our job is to fortify that which has been built over the years, and to remember the work it took to get here, and I am confident that Tennessee’s best days are ahead.”

Tennesseans are invited to view and share photo highlights from the year here.

Thriving Economy

Tennessee is one of the best states to do business, with one of the lowest tax burdens of all 50 states and one of the fastest growing economies in the nation. This year, companies invested over $2.7 billion in the state and committed more than 9,000 new jobs for Tennesseans. Tennessee’s unemployment rate remained consistently below the national rate, after hitting the lowest unemployment rate in history of 3.1 percent in July 2023. Lee’s budget provided more than $393 million in recurring funding to deliver tax cuts and spur economic growth and $1.5 billion in non-recurring funding to simplify the franchise tax in Tennessee. In partnership with the General Assembly, the Lee administration dedicated $100 million to Tennessee’s Rainy Day Fund, bringing totals to more than $2 billion.

Tourism is a top driver of Tennessee’s economy, and Gov. Lee announced the Tennessee’s first Major League Baseball game, the MLB Speedway Classic, will be played at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2025. The MLB Speedway Classic is the second event to be awarded funding from the Special Event Fund, which was created in partnership with the General Assembly and appropriated $25 million in the state budget for a fund to attract and retain high-profile events that deliver significant economic impact, create jobs, and showcase the state to a global audience.

Skilled Workforce

Tennessee led the nation by becoming the first to address the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the music industry, when Gov. Lee signed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act into law. The first-of-its-kind legislation updated Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law to include protections for songwriters, performers, and music industry professionals’ voice from the misuse of AI. Tennessee’s music industry supports more than 61,617 jobs across the state, contributes $5.8 billion to our GDP, and fills over 4,500 music venues. 

Quality Education

This year, Lee prioritized K-12 public education by investing an additional $261 million in local education agencies through Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA), and Tennessee remains on track to become a top-10 state for starting teacher pay in the nation. Lee also provided greater opportunity for students in Nashville, Memphis and Chattanooga with Tennessee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program, to give parents the ability to pick the best school for their child. Parents of students enrolled in the ESA program are reporting a satisfaction rate of 99 percent, and students enrolled in the program made significant gains, and outperformed their public school peers. In the 2024 legislative session, the General Assembly allocated $144 million to establish Education Freedom Scholarships in the future, to empower parents with the freedom to pick the right school for their child.

Strategic Infrastructure Investments

As families and businesses move to Tennessee in record numbers, the state needs a transportation plan to accommodate growth, address traffic congestion and meet transportation needs across rural and urban communities. Gov. Lee announced a plan to replace the I-55 Bridge over the Mississippi River in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the State of Arkansas, marking the single-largest transportation investment in Tennessee history.

Opportunity for Rural Tennessee

Tennessee’s rural counties have seen tremendous success over the last year, with 51 percent of overall job commitments located in rural areas, bringing the total to more than 9,400. Rural counties have received $2.7 billion in capital investment in 2024. The Lee administration continues working toward its mission to accelerate the transformation of rural Tennessee and reduce the number of distressed counties. This fall, Lee held the sixth annual Rural Opportunity Summit and met with state and local leaders to discuss the continued prosperity of rural Tennessee.

When East Tennessee experienced the unprecedented disaster of Hurricane Helene, Gov. Lee unveiled the Helene Emergency Assistance Loans (HEAL) Program, a $100 million fund to directly serve the health and wellbeing of Tennesseans in the aftermath of the storm. Tennessee’s record of fiscal conservatism placed the State in a strong financial position to make government work for the people and provide communities with immediate relief.

Law Enforcement Support + Enhanced Public Safety

This year, Lee has made significant investments to support law enforcement and keep every Tennessee community safe, including allocating $17 million in funding for an additional 60 State Troopers and related support staff to improve public safety across the state. Additional investments include $8 million to expand the school-based behavioral health liaison program to fund 114 liaisons, giving students across Tennessee schools important resources and mental health support, funding for a National Guard recruitment incentive package and funding for Houses of Worship Security Grants.

Strong Families

Lee has worked to strengthen support for Tennessee families, mothers and children, and the latest state budget dedicated more than $197 million over five years from TennCare shared savings, the largest investment in rural health in Tennessee history, by investing in apprenticeships and skilled training, greater access to specialty healthcare and telemedicine, improved career pathways, hospital and physician practice grants, and a new Center of Excellence to sustain and expand rural health support.

Lee’s latest budget allocated more than $3 million in additional funding to improve access to maternal healthcare and boost critical resources by supporting local nonprofits across the state via the Tennessee Strong Families Grant Program, and eased the financial burden on mothers enrolled in TennCare by becoming the first Medicaid program in the nation to cover the cost of diapers during the first two years of a baby’s life. The Lee administration continued efforts to strengthen foster care and adoption by unveiling a comprehensive strategy that includes a proven recruitment technology, new mechanisms for community and faith organizations to meet tangible needs, and creating a seamless integration for measuring, monitoring and meeting the needs of foster children and families through Every Child Tennessee.

Additionally, Gov. Lee signed the Tennessee Disability and Aging Act, legislation that merged Tennessee’s Commission on Aging and Disability (TCAD) and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD), effectively creating a new Department of Disability and Aging (DDA). The bill received unanimous, bipartisan legislative support and delivered on the Governor’s commitment to shrink the size of government and ensure the State of Tennessee efficiently and effectively serves all Tennesseans by enabling better coordination and stronger advocacy.

National Security

Lee has taken steps to ensure national security over the past year, authorizing the deployment of two additional waves of Tennessee National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Southern border amid an ongoing national security crisis and surging drug crisis being fueled by an open border.

Brighter Future + Conservation

From Mountain City to Memphis, Tennessee is blessed with natural beauty and rich natural resources, which will only be around for the future if we invest in them today. The Lee administration developed a conservation strategy that balances our state’s economic growth with a plan to protect our environment. The latest state budget allocated $63 million to create eight new Tennessee State Parks in addition to five announced in 2023, with the goal of funding a total of 13 new state parks during the Lee administration.

Gov. Lee signed Executive Order 108 to establish the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership and further the state’s commitment to balancing economic growth, water resource management, and environmental habitat conservation to ensure the long-term sustainability of Tennessee’s watersheds.

On August 7, Gov. Lee convened the second annual Tennessee Conservation Summit and announced the creation of the Office of Outdoor Recreation to further the state’s conservation efforts and to help residents and visitors enjoy more access to Tennessee’s great outdoors. The annual summit brings together state officials, business and community leaders and conservation stakeholders from across the state to help develop strategic initiatives stewarding Tennessee’s natural heritage for generations to come.

In partnership with the General Assembly, the Lee administration further invested $10 million into the Nuclear Energy Fund to recruit companies to our state that will establish a nuclear development and manufacturing ecosystem built for the future of Tennessee. In 2024, Gov. Lee announced a number of projects that will further strengthen Tennessee’s position as a leader in safe, clean and reliable energy, including Orano USA’s decision to construct a new, multi-billion-dollar, state-of-the-art centrifuge uranium facility in Oak Ridge. The project represents the single-largest economic investment in Tennessee history.

Tennessee Serves

First Lady Maria Lee’s initiative, Tennessee Serves, has experienced the tremendous service and generosity of Tennesseans in the last year. Highlights include distributing backpacks to nearly 2,000 students in economically distressed counties, more than 3,000 hours served by Tennessee children during the Tennessee Kids Serve Summer Challenge and collecting generous food and toiletry donations from thousands of visitors during Tennessee Residence Christmas tours.

Standardized test scores for students using Tennessee’s school vouchers have improved but continue to lag behind their peers statewide, according to data released by the state last week.

The state offers taxpayer-funded vouchers to help low-income families opt out of public schools and pay for private and parochial schools in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties. The program was instituted in the 2022-23 school year for Davidson and Shelby counties after a drawn-out legal battle. Hamilton County was later added to the program. Its first batch of vouchers went out in 2023-24.

Overall, students using the vouchers trailed their peers statewide on English language arts and math scores on the state’s standardized Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests this spring. However, the students also made gains in both categories. Notably, students using vouchers in Shelby County matched their peers in math scores and surpassed them in English language arts scores this year.

Parent survey data was also included in the release and showed a 99% satisfaction rate in the 2023-24 school year with the state voucher program, compared to 91% in the previous school year. Additionally, the report showed participation in the program grew by leaps and bounds in 2023-24, with 2,088 students enrolled. That’s a 362% increase from the 452 students enrolled the previous year.

“This report shows families are satisfied with the educational opportunities afforded by the program, and we are encouraged by the academic performance of the students participating,” Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds said in the release.

Tennessee to push voucher expansion again in 2025

After a failed push to expand the vouchers, which are offered through the Education Savings Account Program, to the entire state in 2024, Gov. Bill Lee and Republican lawmakers are trying again for an expansion in 2025. Lee dubbed the effort the Education Freedom Act.

“A quality education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life, and I’m pleased with the positive gains students are making through enrollment in Tennessee’s Education Savings Account Program,” Lee said in a news release from the Tennessee Department of Education. “It’s time to build upon this foundation of progress and deliver school choice for all Tennessee parents through the Education Freedom Act.”

Here’s a look at how the latest data breaks down for the state and all three counties where vouchers are available.

How ESA students performed vs. Tennessee peers

Across Tennessee, ESA students notched a gain of more than six percentage points in math scores and more than four percentage points in English language arts scores. The gaps between scores in both categories for ESA students and their peers also narrowed.

However, ESA students continued to perform markedly behind statewide scores, which also saw modest gains in each category.

Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts statewide in each group in 2024:

• Statewide math: 36.7%
• ESA students math: 17.6%
• Statewide English language arts: 39%
• ESA English language arts: 27.2%

The numbers, which were released Dec. 23, differ slightly from a previous Tennessean story based on preliminary data. That is likely due to the exclusion of data for schools with 10 or fewer student test scores for privacy purposes, along with an appeal and reconciliation process that may have been completed after the data was obtained by The Tennessean this summer.

How ESA students performed in Davidson County

Students in the ESA program in Davidson County and their peers across the county both made progress in math and English language arts scores.

English language arts scores remained relatively close between ESA students and their peers across Davidson County both years, with the gap between the sets of scores narrowing slightly. However, the gap widened between ESA students and the county when it came to math scores.

Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:

• Countywide math: 26.4%
• ESA students math: 15.7%
• Countywide English language arts: 30.5%
• ESA English language arts: 28.8%

How ESA students performed in Hamilton County

Since 2023-24 was the first school year vouchers were offered in Hamilton County, only one year of data is available. ESA students in the county performed far behind their peers in math and English language arts.

Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:

• Countywide math: 36.6%
• ESA students math: 18.1%
• Countywide English language arts: 39%
• ESA English language arts: 32.2%

How ESA students performed in Shelby County

ESA students made large strides in math scores from 2022-23 to 2023-24. The latest math scores match those of their peers across the county. Additionally, ESA students also made gains in their English language arts scores, surpassing countywide scores for the second year in a row.

Countywide scores also saw modest gains in both categories.

Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:

• Countywide math: 18.7%
• ESA students math: 18.7%
• Countywide English language arts: 23.7%
• ESA English language arts: 25.1%