University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Shine on SEC Media Day
October 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The wake-up call came early for Donnie Tyndall before his first SEC Basketball Media Day. Tyndall and student-athletes Armani Moore and Josh Richardson made the trip to Charlotte, North Carolina for a day spent meeting the media and interacting with ESPN and SEC Network personalities in a day that celebrated men's basketball in the Southeastern Conference.
Nearly 11 hours later, it was all done, back in Knoxville to get back to work for the season ahead.
Here is Tyndall's day, minute by minute:
7:58 a.m. - Tyndall arrives at UT Flight Ops at McGhee-Tyson Airport, ready to board Tennessee's Beechcraft B300 for the 45-minute flight to Charlotte.
And we're off! @J_Rich1 & @Moe_Money4 ready to represent the Vols at #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/KErUeUbbAL
-- Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 22, 20149:09 a.m. - Wheels down in Charlotte. The plane taxies past many of the private planes that dot the outskirts of the airport, including those of NASCAR teams and drivers set up near the general aviation terminal. The UT party boards one of the many shuttles arraigned by ESPN to ferry the teams from the airport to the two locations of media day.
9:35 a.m. - The UT group arrives at the Ballantyne Hotel and Resort to begin preparation for the day's activities.
The event is split into two sessions, one at the hotel, the other at the ESPN/SEC Network studios just down the road. The traditional media sessions with print and local media are at the hotel, along with stations for CBS and other national media. ESPN then has a full schedule of appearances and tapings for various platforms at the studio. The teams from the SEC's Eastern Division begin at the hotel and finish at ESPN, the Western Division teams do the opposite, with a crossover at the studio after lunch for group shots with all of the teams and coaches.
"It's obviously very exciting," Tyndall said as he sat back prior to the session. "I think it's an opportunity to see some familiar faces with people that I've dealt with in the past, people I've become friends with. Overall, it's a great day for our student athletes, guys like Josh and Armani get the chance to get some recognition and met the press. Their hard work and effort are going to be rewarded. It's an exciting time around college basketball, particularly in the SEC.
Tennessee is set up in one of the hotel's conference rooms to relax before the rotations begin. ESPN's Shannon Spake stops in to meet Tyndall, who she will have a sit-down interview with later in the day. South Carolina head coach Frank Martin, with whom Tyndall has a long friendship, sits down at the conference table to rehash old stories from both of them rising through the coaching ranks.
10:00 a.m. - Tyndall and the Tennessee players step two rooms down into the makeup room, where one of ESPN's makeup artists gives the three a light coat for the TV cameras. From there, the group heads to another conference room to do a quick session with members of the Knoxville media that have made the trip for the event.
10:35 Tyndall sits down with the SEC's Sean Cartell to conduct a Twitter chat on the conference's official Twitter account.
#SECTipoff15: Donnie Tyndall on UT: "Passionate fan-base, an administration committed to winning, unbelievable facilities."
-- SEC Sports (@SEC) October 22, 201410:50 - As the players go off to do a variety of video shoots, Tyndall takes to the stage in the main media room to answer questions from print, internet and TV outlets from all over the country.
Among the tidbits of information from the session, Tyndall said he would wear the Tennessee orange blazer for games against traditional rival Vanderbilt, as nearly every UT coach before him has done. He added that he was undecided on whether it would come out for any other games, as it occasionally has for some of his predecessors.
"I'm going to wear it for the Vanderbilt game, no question. For Kentucky, we'll have to see." -- Donnie Tyndall on the orange blazer
-- Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 22, 2014Asked about the passion of Tennessee fans, he says "Our fans are crazy, but it's crazy in a good way. I love them."
On the way out of the main room, he shares a few moments with former Vol Dane Bradshaw, who was recently named a game and studio commentator for the SEC Network's coverage of men's basketball.
#VFL and newly-announced @SECNetwork broadcaster Dane Bradshaw with @UTCoachTyndall #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/6IWdT9lAZk
-- Brian Rice (@briancrice) October 22, 201411:35 p.m. - CBS's Seth Davis has a sit-down with Tyndall that reaches beyond just his team's outlook for the season and into a discussion about the state of the sport in general.
"I love the college game," Tyndall says. "I think it's the best game in the world. There is nothing that compares to the NCAA Tournament."
Tyndall also tells Davis that coaching at Tennessee is "The opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream."
Now in the @CBSSports room, @UTCoachTyndall sits down with @SethDavisHoops #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/cO2M4zNvap
-- Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 22, 201412:04 p.m. - A rare moment of downtime outside a couple of the interview rooms features chats with Georgia head coach Mark Fox and Vanderbilt leader Kevin Stallings.
12:10 p.m. - Tyndall goes in-depth with Fox Sports South on the things he has done in the community since coming to Tennessee.
"It's important for us to be visible," Tyndall said of he and his family. "We want the community to know us."
Tyndall outlined some of the events he and his charity have helped put on, including the recent run for veterans.
12:35 p.m. - Lunch time represents reunion time with the players, as all get the chance to catch their breath before boarding a shuttle to the ESPN studios.
Once at ESPN, the players take a group shot outside on a full-size basketball court set up in the SEC Network parking lot. The head coaches follow with a group shot of their own at mid court.
1:30 p.m. - Moore and Richardson stay behind to shoot an on-court segment with ESPN analyst Sean Farnham, who spent last weekend attending a Tennessee practice as part of his annual preseason tour. The segment has each player help demonstrate the Volunteers' new zone defense scheme, with both explaining their role with Farnham playing the part of an offensive player.
The Vols breaking down the plays with @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/BHEbuPhS0P
-- Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 22, 2014Tyndall heads inside to record a 30-minute roundtable with the SEC East's other six coaches to air as part of SEC Now and other network preseason programming.
The leaders of the @SEC East. #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/NvMLwmmnNZ
-- SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 22, 20142:15 p.m. - The players and Tyndall, in separate sessions right after one another, take turns in the social media room. Moore and Richardson play a game of "Him or me," where each player holds a sign and responds whether the statement given his "him" or "me." They agree that Moore is the better singer and that Richardson goes on more dates because he has a girlfriend. Neither admitted to being a good dancer.
The players and Tyndall all were asked to draw Smokey on a white board in 60 seconds. None of the three will win art awards.
They asked @J_Rich1 to draw @UTSmokey_00. "He's hungry," he said. pic.twitter.com/W7JXeOXSXE
-- Brian Rice (@briancrice) October 22, 20143:02 p.m. - The players conclude their day with an ESPN photoshoot in full uniform.
Another photoshoot for @J_Rich1 & @Moe_Money4 #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/uO4uVovq3M
-- Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 22, 2014Tyndall makes a final stop in the SiriusXM College Sports Nation studio and heads outside to join the group for the shuttle back to the airport, where the UT pilots are waiting.
6:06 p.m. - Wheels down in Knoxville. The day is not done for Tyndall, who will head for an appearance on the Vol Network's VolCalls radio program.
The next time Moore and Richardson don the uniforms that they wore throughout the day, the Volunteers will be on the court for the exhibition opener with Pikeville on Nov. 3.
That's a wrap #SECTipoff15 pic.twitter.com/wrhwLG70RP
-- ESPNU (@ESPNU) October 22, 2014
