KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee announced Wednesday that the men’s basketball program has sold its complete allotment of 14,500 season tickets for the 2024-25 campaign at the Food City Center.
This is the sixth straight full-capacity season in which over 13,000 fans have purchased season tickets to see the Volunteers compete on their home floor, including the third straight over 14,000.
Single-game tickets will go on sale at AllVols.com at a later date. Fans seeking to bring a large group to Food City Center this season can begin that process online.
Tennessee has placed in the top eight nationally in average attendance each of the last six full-capacity seasons, including top five in each of the past five. Last year, the Vols finished fourth in the country with an average of 19,664 fans per home game. Only nine schools in America averaged upward of even 16,000.
Vols to host Indiana in charity hoops exhibition
KNOXVILLE — The UT men’s basketball team will open its 2024-25 campaign with a charity exhibition game Oct. 27 against Indiana at Food City Center, the university announced Tuesday, Aug. 27.
NCAA rules mandate that for an exhibition game between two Division I teams to take place the host school must sell tickets and donate the proceeds to a designated charity. Tennessee and Indiana have jointly agreed to support the John McLendon Foundation.
Season ticket holders can log in to their AllVols account and purchase their season ticket location for this game from now through Sept. 9. The general public on-sale date is Sept. 16. The tip time and TV network will be announced at a later date.
“We are thrilled to host one of the best programs in the nation and support a worthy cause at the same time. I have a great deal of respect for Coach (Mike) Woodson, and I look forward to sharing a sideline with him for the first time,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “Indiana’s first visit to Knoxville provides an excellent test for our guys before the season officially begins. Most of all, though, it is a great way to raise money for an impactful organization whose mission I fully support.”
Named for the esteemed Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame member, the John McLendon Foundation offers scholarships for minority students who intend to pursue a postgraduate degree in athletics administration. It is also home to the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, a new coach-driven program to create access to and opportunity for meaningful employment experience for minority candidates known as Future Leaders.
Baseball Vols announce fall exhibition games
KNOXVILLE — The reigning national champion Tennessee baseball team announced Thursday, Aug. 22, that it will play two exhibition games in October during its fall season.
During the football open week, the Vols will head to mid-state to take on Western Kentucky on Friday, Oct. 25, in Nashville before heading further west to Jackson, Tennessee, for a matchup against Troy on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Game times and ticket information for both games will be announced at a later date.
White announces Vitello contract extension
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White announced last week that National Coach of the Year Tony Vitello inked a five-year contract extension through June 30, 2029, to remain on Rocky Top.
“Tony and his staff have developed the country’s top baseball program, and we are excited to announce this long-term extension to keep Tony on Rocky Top,” White said. “As an athletics department, we aim to lead the way in college sports, and Tony has created a baseball program that sets the standard across the entire sport. The on-field results in the nation’s best conference are unmatched, and the enthusiasm he has brought to Vol Nation has been incredible to witness.”
Vitello led Tennessee to its first national championship in program history in 2024 and was named the National Coach of the Year by multiple outlets.
“With the new hires we made this summer, we wanted to take care in solidifying what we knew was inevitable, that being our athletic department and coaching staff wanting to be teammates for a long time,” Vitello said.
“Our staff and our program take confidence in the fact that our administration is more invested in our sport than anywhere else in the country when you consider resources, their commitment to our staff and the stadium project. At the end of the day, we know our great Vol fans are the origin of these resources and we look forward to continually working hard to make them proud to be a part of Vol Nation.”
Under Vitello’s leadership, the Vols finished with a single-season record of 60 victories. He guided the team to Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament titles in the historic 2024 campaign. UT made history as the first SEC team to reach the 60-win mark in a single season and just the fourth conference team to win the SEC regular-season title, SEC Tournament title and NCAA Men’s College World Series in the same year.
UT volleyball slated for eight televised matches
KNOXVILLE — UT volleyball will compete in eight televised matches during the 2024 campaign.
ESPN and the SEC Network released their schedules for the season on Thursday.
The Lady Vols will be featured three times on ESPN networks, highlighted by the Nov. 10 matchup against Texas A&M at Food City Center that will be nationally televised on ESPN.
There will be plenty of excitement to start the year for the Big Orange. UT’s season opener against Penn State on Aug. 31 will air on ESPNU, followed by the Lady Vols’ road contest against Louisville (Sept. 1) on ESPN2.
Five Tennessee competitions will be televised on SEC Network throughout the year, including home matchups against UCLA (Sept. 5), Alabama (Sept. 25) and South Carolina (Nov. 24). UT’s contests at Florida (Oct. 25) and Texas (Nov. 27) rounded out the slate. In addition to the eight televised matches, all of the Lady Vols’ home games as well as all conference road competitions will be streamed on SEC Network+.
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