Tennessee
Why Jaylen Carey earned ‘bodyguard’ title for Tennessee vs Ole Miss
Jaylen Carey’s frame garners a lot of attention for Tennessee basketball.
As the Vols (16-6, 6-3 SEC) throttled Ole Miss (11-11, 3-6) by a score of 84-66 at Food City Center on Feb. 4, Carey used his size to protect his teammates.
In the first half, freshman Nate Ament crashed to the ground after a defender aggressively bodied him up. Referees kept the call at a common foul, but in the second half, Ole Miss player James Scott received a flagrant after swiping at Bishop Boswell’s face.
On both occasions, the 6-foot-8, 267-pound Carey found himself in the middle of a scrum against a group of Ole Miss defenders.
“Yeah man, that’s our bodyguard, that’s our team bodyguard right there,” Ament said. “He likes to get in fights and stuff like that. I’m just joking, but he’s our enforcer. Knowing that someone like that is having my back, it’s incredible. He broke my wrist in the summer when I tried to dunk on him, but that’s a whole different story.”
Carey shared a double technical foul with Scott after the second skirmish. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes wasn’t so keen on Carey’s activities.
“I don’t mind it, but I don’t want him to get technical fouls, especially when we’re short a post player,” Barnes said. “I know his teammates respect him for it. It happened so quickly. I think our guys appreciate it. I just don’t want it to get us at the wrong time when we are really playing with three of our starting five post players.”
Tennessee basketball center Felix Okpara making ‘progress’
The Vols won another game without starting center Felix Okpara. He missed his second straight contest with a left calf injury. Tennessee would have been even thinner in the frontcourt if Carey was ejected.
There’s no return timetable for Okpara, but Barnes sounded optimistic after talking to director of men’s basketball sports medicine Chad Newman.
“Chad told me today (Okpara) was feeling better today,” Barnes said. “I said, ‘How’s he feeling?’ He said he thought he made progress today. I can’t tell you when because that’s the honest answer. He told me that right before the game. He said he had a good day.”
The Vols’ big men weren’t as productive against Ole Miss as they were against Auburn. Redshirt sophomore J.P. Estrella finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman DeWayne Brown II, who replaced Okpara in the starting lineup, had five points, three rebounds and an assist. Carey, nearly ejected with four fouls, had four points, five rebounds and an assist.
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe
Tennessee
A New Miss Tennessee Will Be Crowned This Week
The Miss Tennessee Opportunity welcomes contestants, families, alumni, and supporters from across the state to Nashville June 15-20, 2026, for Miss Tennessee Competition Week at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Belmont University. The week will culminate with the crowning of a new Miss Tennessee and Miss Tennessee’s Teen as current titleholders Zoe Scheiderich and Analee Shaver pass on their crowns. The Miss Tennessee Opportunity is the officially licensed state program of the Miss America Opportunity, one of the nation’s leading achievement and scholarship organizations for young women. Click for More Events
Competition week features interviews, rehearsals, preliminary competitions, special events, and scholarship opportunities for talented young women representing communities throughout Tennessee. Throughout the week, attendees will have opportunities to participate in special events and celebrations leading up to the final night of competition. These events include a Red Carpet Gala on Wednesday, June 17 and the Miss Tennessee Par-Tea on Thursday, June 18, both taking place in the lobby of the Fisher Center. Tickets for the competition and official events are available through the Miss Tennessee website at misstennessee.org.
Miss Tennessee 2025 Zoe Scheiderich, a native of Lebanon and student at Middle Tennessee State University, has represented Tennessee with distinction throughout her year of service. At the Miss America Competition, Scheiderich earned recognition as a Top 11 finalist and Preliminary Fitness Award winner while advancing her initiative to empower and equip women and girls. A classically trained dancer and aspiring sports broadcaster, she has earned significant scholarship support through the Miss America Opportunity and has served as an ambassador for the organization across Tennessee.
Joining her on the final night stage will be Miss Tennessee’s Teen 2025 Analee Shaver of Collierville. A student leader, accomplished dancer, and advocate against bullying, Shaver has spent her year promoting her community service initiative, Stand4Me, which encourages students to become advocates for peers experiencing bullying. Through school visits and community appearances, she has championed inclusion, empathy, and kindness among Tennessee’s youth.
The Miss Tennessee competition celebrates its 73rd year this June and is honored to welcome the reigning Miss America and former Belmont student, Cassie Donegan, to join in on the competition week festivities and perform a special showcase of music. Donegan has enjoyed a whirlwind year of appearances and advocacy since being crowned the 98th Miss America last September. She will be a featured guest Wednesday – Friday of competition week.
“We are excited to welcome Tennessee’s outstanding young women and their supporters to Nashville celebrating service, scholarship, style, success, and sisterhood,” said Dr. Colene Trent, CEO and Executive Director of the Miss Tennessee Opportunity. “We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of Zoe and Analee while introducing Tennessee to the reigning Miss America and the next generation of leaders who will represent our state.”
The competition is supported by a robust team of sponsors including The Clothes Tree Nashville, which provides all competition and appearance gowns and clothing for the titleholders and Beaman Toyota, which provides the official Miss Tennessee vehicle. The official transportation partner of the Miss Tennessee Competition is Gray Line Tours. The competition is also grateful for its partnership with the Fisher Center and Belmont University. The new Miss Tennessee will receive a $10,000 scholarship, a year of opportunities and travel throughout the state, and the honor of representing Tennessee in the iconic Miss America Competition in September.
Please Join Our FREE Newsletter!
Tennessee
John Rose visits Blountville amid quest for Tennessee governorship
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Congressman John Rose made his way to the Tri-Cities Tuesday as part of his “Tennessee True Tour” as he seeks to secure the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s upcoming gubernatorial election.
Rose is holding a series of town halls across the state to talk with voters and hear their concerns.
On Tuesday, the governor hopeful visited the Ron Ramsey Regional Ag Center in Blountville. Rose is an entrepreneur who started his own I.T. training company. He says his business experience translates to the governor’s office.
“I think Tennessee needs to think about who they’re going to choose as their next governor,” he said. “And they need a leader that’s ready to go to work on day one. The job of being governor is the job of being CEO of our state. It’s a big organization. It’s not a business, but it’s got a lot of the attributes of a business.”
The ag center was a familiar backdrop for Rose. He grew up working with his father on their farm that has been in their family for more than 200 years. That experience, Rose says, makes him able to relate to farmers who may be struggling.
“They want a governor who will listen,” he said. “They’re tired of DC politicians who come and speak at them when it’s election time, but then don’t show up and don’t address the challenges of the day. They want a governor who will apply our conservative Tennessee values, faith, family, and freedom in taking on the challenges that face Tennessee. And finally, they want a governor who will work hard to protect the nature and quality of Tennessee, our natural beauty, but also the values that really define Tennessee, our southern hospitality.”
Rose will face U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn and State Representative Monty Fritts, as well as others, in the primary on Aug. 6.
Tennessee
Tennessee Highway Safety Office contest seeks best-looking police cruiser photo
TENNESSEE — Tennessee law enforcement agencies are vying for statewide bragging rights in a contest to find the best-looking police cruiser photo.
The Tennessee Highway Safety Office is holding the contest as part of the 22nd annual Law Enforcement Challenge, with more than 90 agencies taking part. The challenge recognizes the agency with the “coolest cruiser photo.”
Several local agencies are participating, including the Bristol Tennessee Police Department, which is hoping to win this year.
“In previous years, we’ve taken pictures in front of the race track. We’ve also used another landmark, which is our Bristol sign downtown and we have not yet submitted one on our mural that’s in downtown Bristol, so we definitely wanted to showcase that beautiful artwork that’s in our downtown area, hoping that that artwork will take us the award home,” said Jacey McCray, community outreach officer for the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department.
The winning agency will be selected using ranked-choice voting, meaning each voter is required to vote for three agencies.
The deadline to vote is this Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
You can vote here.
-
New Hampshire3 minutes agoWhen and where to celebrate Juneteenth in N.H., the only New England state that doesn’t recognize it as a holiday – The Boston Globe
-
New Jersey6 minutes agoMan pleads guilty in NJ crash that killed woman and girl
-
New Mexico18 minutes agoNew Mexico has received 18,000 reports of elder abuse this year
-
North Carolina21 minutes ago
Late and overpaid: New audits show continued problems with NC unemployment system
-
North Dakota26 minutes agoMan charged with felony assault after attacking woman at Buffalo River State Park
-
Ohio33 minutes agoCouple charged in animal neglect case enter pleas
-
Oklahoma36 minutes agoRep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff
-
Oregon41 minutes agoThree Oregon Ducks and one commit invited to 2026 MLB Draft Combine