Know Your Foe: Austin Peay
Wikipedia
By Tucker Harlin
#11 Tennessee (3-0) continues its 2024-25 season against Austin Peay (3-0) Sunday. The game tips off at 3 p.m. ET and airs on SEC Network Plus.
The Vols are 9-1 against the Governors all time. The loss actually occurred in the first year of the brief Cuonzo Martin era, but the Vols won 86-44 back in 2022.
The Governors will be the first squad Tennessee plays from the Volunteer State this season, hailing from Clarksville. To my knowledge, there is no plan to bust out smokey gray jerseys with orange yokes around the shoulders.
In case you didn’t know, Austin Peay’s signature chant is “Let’s Go Peay!” I laughed uncontrollably when I found that out as a kid.
The Governors have seen a little bit of everything on the scale of competition through three games. They defeated Union College 95-75 to open the season, gutted out a win against Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse of Hoosiers fame, and won closely against Chattanooga in the SoCon/ASun Challenge.
Austin Peay is led by second year head coach Corey Gipson. The first season under Gipson in Clarksville ended with a 19-16 record and CIT loss to Alabama A&M.
The Governors’ rotation is about 10 men deep.
The top scorer through three games is L.J. Thomas. Transferring to the Governors from the NC State team that made the Final Four run, Thomas is the best facilitator with 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.
Another name you may be familiar with is Hansel Enmanuel. If you pay close attention to recruiting, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Enmanuel’s highlights.
Remember one-handed hooper Hansel Emmanuel?
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 9, 2024
He’s currently logging minutes at Austin Peay and still getting absolute buckets pic.twitter.com/BSlZBbKT9Q
