KNOXVILLE - University of Tennessee football players Jack Jones and Kyle Phillips and men's basketball player Admiral Schofield recently returned from two weeks in Vietnam on a trip through the school's VOLeaders Academy.
The three junior athletes were led by Joe Scogin, who oversees the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center as a UT senior associate athletic director and assistant provost.
"Our main goal was just to tell how sport can bring unity to people from all over and all different places and how it can bring people together," said Phillips, whose mother, Teresa, was a Girls Preparatory School and Vanderbilt standout and has been Tennessee State's athletic director for 15 years.
"Even though we're American and they're from Vietnam, sports still bring us together in some form or fashion."
The group visited a local university and an orphanage and worked athletic camps with children, among other things, during the trip.
Phillips noted that most of the facilities they visited were below typical American standards, lacking things such as air conditioning.
"But they still enjoyed what they did and enjoyed what they did have and were appreciative," the defensive end from Nashville said. "That's something I can take and implement with our team, is just know that you don't have to have the best of the best to be successful. You've just got to work with what you've got."
Jones, a 6-foot-4, 312-pound offensive lineman, said the plane ride was "a little tight" but the trip exceeded his expectations.
"Their country is on the rise in the business world," Jones said. "You meet these people and they'll have a side gig they're starting up or a business or something. So it was really cool to talk to the younger generation. We visited a college one day and it was cool to seem them really, really thriving. It was cool to see that growth."
Gordon back with Lady Vols as assistant coach
The second-leading scorer in Tennessee women's basketball history is returning to the program as an assistant coach. Tennessee announced Thursday that Bridgette Gordon, who starred for the Lady Volunteers under Pat Summitt from 1985 to 1989, is joining coach Holly Warlick's staff.
Gordon was part of Tennessee's first two national championships in 1987 and 1989, earning Final Four MVP, Southeastern Conference player of the year and SEC female athlete of the year honors in 1989. She scored 2,462 points for Tennessee and racked up 336 steals, also second in school history.
"I'm overwhelmed and grateful, because Knoxville is a special place," Gordon said in a news release. "I spent the best four years of my life here. The fans have always been so faithful and supportive. There is no place like home, and I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. It's heartfelt, because it has only been a year since we lost Pat, and I know she would be proud of me."
Gordon was an assistant coach at Wichita State from 2010 to this year. Her boss there was former Bradley Central and Lady Vols star Jody Adams-Birch, who was fired as the program's head coach in January but directed the Shockers to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (2013-15).
Gordon previously worked as an assistant coach at Stetson and Georgia State and as an WNBA scout after a professional playing career in Italy and in the WNBA.
Jolette Law created the opening on Tennessee's staff in June when she took an assistant coaching position with national champion South Carolina.
"Though there was urgency to fill this position, I took my time and turned over every stone to find the best fit for this program," Warlick said in the release. "Bridgette checks all the boxes in terms of who I wanted. I am so excited to welcome her back to Tennessee as a member of our staff."
Jones one of 19 coaches on Dodd watch list
Tennessee football coach Butch Jones was one of 19 coaches placed on the preseason watch list for the 2017 Dodd Trophy this past week.
The announcement came Wednesday from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Dodd Trophy is awarded to a coach who suceeds on the field while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity. Others on the watch list from the SEC were Alabama's Nick Saban, Florida's Jim McElwain and Auburn's Gus Malzahn.
Versatile Evan Berry on Hornung watch list
The Louisville Sports Commission named the Vols' Evan Berry to the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award this past week. The award goes to college football's most versatile player. Berry, a senior kick returner and defensive back, is one of 46 players on the watch list.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.