Tag: florida a&M

Former Tennessee defensive lineman announces transfer destination

This former JUCO prospect will transfer to a FCS school.

Former Tennessee defensive lineman, a JUCO transfer, Savion Williams has announced his transfer destination for the 2021 season.

The 6-foot-4, 304-pound lineman is transferring to Florida A&M.

Florida A&M is a FCS school and plays in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The Rattlers did not play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but went 9-2 during the 2019 season. Florida A&M is led by head coach Willie Simmons, who will be in his fourth year by the start of the 2021 campaign.

Tennessee defensive linemen Savion Williams (50) and Elijah Simmons (51) warming up before the Georgia game on Saturday, October 5, 2019.

Williams was a highly recruited junior college prospect out of Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania.

He appeared in seven games in 2019 and two contests last season in 2020, recording seven tackles at Tennessee.

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Lady Vols’ season opening game versus Florida A&M canceled

The Lady Vols were set to tipoff head coach Kellie Harper’s second season Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols were set to tipoff head coach Kellie Harper’s second season Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The contest has been canceled.

Florida A&M announced Monday that its women’s basketball team has opted out of the 2020-21 season due to concerns with COVID-19.

“We knew this season was going to be very fluid,” Harper said in a UT press release. “We have talked a lot with our team about having to be flexible and able to respond to change. That’s just going to be the nature of things this year.”

The Lady Vols are slated to play Western Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. EST on Saturday. The game will be live streamed on SECN+.

Ex-Cincinnati Bengals star DB Ken Riley dies at 72

Ken Riley, the career interception leader for the Bengals, died at the age of 72.

Ken Riley, who starred for Florida A&M and with the Cincinnati Bengals, died Sunday at the age of 72.

The defensive back was a four-year starting quarterback in college and a Rhodes Scholar candidate. In addition, he was the Senior Class President in both high school and college.

“FAMU Athletics and the entire Rattler Nation is deeply saddened of the passing of former FAMU football player, Head Coach, Athletics Director and NFL great Ken Riley,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Kortne Gosha said. “We wish his family our deepest condolences.”

“I woke up this morning with a heavy heart as I learned of the passing of FAMU and NFL great Ken Riley,” FAMU Head Football Coach Willie Simmons said. “Coach Riley was one of the first to welcome me to the FAMULY and having him speak to our team before our first Orange and Green game is definitely at the top of my list of unforgettable moments as head coach here at FAMU. My deepest condolences go out to his family and we as football community will surely honor his memory.”

He was selected in the sixth round, with the 135th pick by the Cincinnati Bengals during the 1969 NFL Draft.

Riley played with the Bengals for 15 years (1969-1983). He was converted to cornerback in training camp by Coach Paul Brown. During his rookie season, he made four interceptions and returned 14 kickoffs for an average of 23.9 yards per return. He also caught two passes.

Riley recorded 65 interceptions in his career, which was the fourth-most in NFL history at the time of his retirement and is currently fifth on that list.

Three of the top five players have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. While he is fifth on the NFL All-Time interceptions list, he remains the only player not enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Florida A&M inducted Riley into its Hall of Fame in 1977. Riley was also inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

“He was a good man. He was one of our greatest athletes and person,” FAMU Sports Hall of Fame chairman Alvin Hollins said.

“Ken showed tremendous leadership as a student and a quarterback. The only regret is that he didn’t get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he passed. Several of the players he coached made it to the NFL. We had great success with him as a coach and athletics director.”

David Boss-USA TODAY Sports

Vols cruise past road weary Rattlers, 72-43

Tennessee defeats Florida A&M.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s men’s basketball team took advantage of what turned out to be as close as a gimme as it would get during the 2019-2020 season.

Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes said that “you never want to take anyone for granted” at his Monday press conference.

The Vols didn’t as they routed a Florida A&M team that saw its futility streak continue as Tennessee nabbed a 72-43 victory over the Rattlers Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee (7-1) got off to a sluggish start and fell behind Florida A&M 3-2 before going on a 14-0 run to pull ahead 16-5.

From there, UT, which had its share of struggles at times as it committed 15 turnovers, went into cruise control and never looked back against the outmatched and road weary Rattlers (0-7), who are in the midst of an 11-game, 73-day road stretch.

Florida A&M hasn’t played at home this season and the Rattlers won’t be at home until Jan. 11.

They’ve played games in Hawaii against the Rainbow Warriors, South Dakota and the University of Pacific.

The Rattlers also played at Seaton Hall, the University of Southern California and Kansas State before making their first-ever trip to Knoxville.

Tennessee exploited its inside edge as John Fulkerson scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Yves Pon scored 14 points and pulled down seven boards and Olivier Nkamhoua had a double-double as he had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Guards Josiah-Jordan James and Lamonte Turner each chipped in 10 points.

Moving forward, the Vols and Rattlers will both have extended breaks.

The Vols will host Memphis on Saturday, Dec. 14 while FAMU has road dates at Portland (Dec. 16), Washington State (Dec. 19) and Seattle (Dec. 21) before heading to Iowa State on New Year’s Eve.