While the offseason for all Tennessee sports teams continues throughout the summer, many of the athletes in Knoxville are dispersed around the globe.
When Tennessee athletic director Danny White announced the athletic program’s Rise Glorious strategic plan nearly a year ago, one of the main sticking points of the project was to develop and expand on Tennessee’s iconic brand. That includes the United States, of course, but it also involves a global reach.
The goal, as stated by Tennessee, is to “strengthen meaningful connections to the athletics program and modernize the way we tell the Volunteer story nationally and globally through the Power of the T.”
The global expansion is certainly gaining a solid footing in 2023.
Tobe Awaka
Rising Tennessee sophomore Tobe Awaka just wrapped up a quick run with Team USA’s Under-19 basketball team in the global FIBA World Cup. The games were played in Debrecen, Hungary over about a week-long stretch.
Awaka was dominant throughout the tournament finishing as Team USA’s second-leading scorer with an average of 11.6 points per game. Awaka’s 10.6 rebounds per game was good enough for second-most among the tournament field and his 5.0 offensive boards per game led the way in the tournament.
Awaka saw action against Madagascar, Slovenia, Lebanon, China, Japan, France, and Turkey over the span of the tournament.
7 PTS / 13 REB 🇺🇸 vs. Turkey
Tobe Awaka concludes #FIBAU19 with a 4th consecutive double-digit rebound performance
The rising sophomore averaged 11.6 ppg + 10.6 rpg over 7 games and was 1 of only 3 players to average a double-double for the tournament pic.twitter.com/bNMYxUkDI2
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) July 2, 2023
Lady Vols Basketball
Tobe Awaka wasn’t the only Tennessee basketball player on the move this month. In fact, the entire women’s team took part in a European tour during the month of June.
The Lady Vols’ basketball program embarked on an 11-day European tour on June 11. Tennessee made stops in Venice, Rome, Sorrento, and Athens while also playing in two games during that stretch. The Lady Vols had the opportunity to see remarkable places such as the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and much, more much.
“Having a few practices beforehand, playing games abroad and sharing amazing experiences over two weeks will allow us to build camaraderie and chemistry for next season,” Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper said before the trip. “We can’t wait to embark on this journey together.”
Sorrento Scenes!! #GoLadyVols // #LadyVolsAbroad pic.twitter.com/p7IpO7ReST
— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) June 22, 2023
VOLeaders in the Philippines
The Pasay Sports Fest in the Philippines is off and running.
As part of Tennessee Athletics’ community outreach program, the VOLeaders, a collection of student-athletes from the University of Tennessee, are currently visiting the city of Pasay in the Philippines to interact with the kids of Jose Rizal Elementary School.
A video that was posted to Twitter on Monday morning shows several Tennessee athletes playing games and having fun with the kids through various sporting activities. The video shows Tennessee basketball’s Jahmai Mashack, the Lady Vols’ Sara Puckett, Tennessee football’s Addison Nichols and De’Shawn Rucker, Tennessee swim’s Joseph Jordan, Tennessee volleyball’s Kylie Robinson, Tennessee rowing’s Riley Ferdelman, and many more athletes.
“We’re in the city of Pasay in the Philippines and right now we are playing activities with the kids,” Ferdelman said with excitement in the video. “Over here me and D-Ruck (De’Shawn Rucker) are doing a tennis ball bucket relay. It’s super fun, entertaining, and I think the kids are having a really good time.”
Check out the full video from VOLeaders’ first stop on the service and cultural immersion trip.
🇵🇭 PASAY SPORTS FEST
The @VOLeaders are on the ground in the Philippines! Kicking off the service and cultural immersion trip with a Sports Fest at Jose Rizal Elementary School in Pasay#VOLeaders365 pic.twitter.com/8fNyVSSoAx
— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) July 3, 2023
