There were no shortage of Tennessee fans inside Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday night as the Vols improved to 15-4 (5-1 SEC) with a 75-62 victory over their instate rival Vanderbilt.
Tennessee fans took over in the Volunteer State capital turning Memorial Gymnasium into Thompson-Boling Arena-Nashville. As Vol fans belted out Rocky Top in the game’s final minutes, Vanderbilt turned the speakers up extremely high in its best effort to drown out the singing.
One man rocking Tennessee gear in the building was more famous than anyone else— Volunteer football coach Josh Heupel.
Heupel made it to Vanderbilt for the 5 p.m. local time tipoff and went down to the bowels of Memorial Gymnasium following the game to offer his congratulations to Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes.
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Then Heupel, joined by offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, headed south into Williamson County to watch five-star quarterback George MacIntyre on the hardwood as Brentwood Academy defeated Pope Preps 70-55.
Among the attendees: Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and #Vols OC Joey Halzle.
Here to see five star QB and recent commit George MacIntyre, surely.
— Blaine Kellar (@sports_bk) January 28, 2024
MacIntyre and Heupel sat together inside Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center eight days ago as Tennessee basketball torched Alabama 91-71. Two days later, MacIntyre became the second five-star quarterback to commit to Josh Heupel in his three-year tenure.
Heupel and Barnes have shared a domination of Vanderbilt in their time at Tennessee. Heupel and the football program are 3-0 against Commodores over the last three seasons, winning by a combined score of 149-45. With Saturday night’s win in Nashville, Barnes is 14-5 against Vanderbilt in his nine-year tenure at Tennessee. The Vols have also won 11 of the last 12 meetings against the Commodores.
Tennessee will look to improve upon that mark when they host Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Saturday, Feb. 17.
