Butch Jones absent, but Vols' Nashville picnic sets record - The Tennessean
The absence of football coach Butch Jones didn't dampen the spirits of the orange and white faithful at Lipscomb's Allen Arena Tuesday night during the 49th annual University of Tennessee All-Sports Picnic. A record crowd of more than 1,400 attended the event, according to Rob Hoskins, the immediate past president of the Nashville Region UT-K Alumni Chapter. While Jones was unable to attend, fans got their first look at new men's basketball coach Rick Barnes , who was pleased with the turnout. "I think you see a lot of excitement and you feel there's really an upswing at the University of Tennessee," Barnes said. "This is a great occasion to get a year off on the right foot when you have so many fans get together with hope and aspirations," said Mike Maness, a 1967 UT graduate. "I love getting to see old friends from college that we don't get to see very often," Class of 2005 alum Anne Meriwether said. "We get to see a few people from school that we used to hang out with that we don't get to see very often now, but we all kind of gather here. "For the Nashville region of the UT Alumni chapter this is our primary event for raising funds for our scholarship endowment fund and we contribute to that," said Hoskins. Source: www.tennessean.com
