Tennessee hoping tough times will ease
Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
These are tough times for Tennessee athletics.
The NCAA has finally wrapped up its investigation that has been hanging over the men’s basketball and the football programs for more than two years. To escape additional punishments stemming from the probe, the university placed self-imposed recruiting limitations on second-year football coach Derek Dooley and newly hired men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin.
The last time the football team made news in the mighty Southeastern Conference was with Lane Kiffin’s controversial antics; Dooley can only promise the team will be better, not good.
Martin’s basketball outlook may not be much better.
Iconic women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia — Alzheimer’s type.
“I’m ready to have calm waters,” interim athletics director Joan Cronan said Wednesday.
“I’m ready to go forward. I told our staff this morning that our focus was the passion, pride and tradition of Tennessee and that would move us forward.”
Summitt’s challenges are only beginning. The Hall of Fame coach announced Tuesday that she had been diagnosed with the progressive cognitive disorder but pledged to continue coaching as long as she felt healthy enough to do so.
The Lady Vols have won eight national championships and reached 18 Final Fours, however they haven’t reached a Final Four in three seasons — which ties the program’s longest drought.
The football program is struggling to return to the glory that has eluded it since longtime coach Phillip Fulmer was fired in 2008.
The Vols haven’t played for a national title since winning the 1998 BCS crown and haven’t won more than seven games in the past three seasons. The men’s basketball team’s successes have been more recent, with Pearl leading the Vols to their only No. 1 ranking and only appearance in the NCAA tournament regional finals, but it came with a price.
UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek isn’t necessarily concerned with titles, he just expects Dooley and Martin to keep Tennessee out of trouble and wants Summitt to coach as long as she’s able to.
“It is time for the University of Tennessee to put this behind us and look forward,” he said.