Know Your Foe: Gardner-Webb

Credit: sportslogohistory.com

By Tucker Harlin

#12 Tennessee hosts Gardner-Webb in Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center to open the 2024-25 season Monday.

Don’t be fooled by the logo, Tennessee isn’t playing Georgia in football next week. But the Vols play three different Bulldogs in the next three weeks across two sports.

Gardner-Webb is located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Boiling Springs sits about an hour and 15 minutes west of downtown Charlotte.

The Bulldogs play in the Big South conference, which is also home to High Point, USC Upstate where Jordan Gainey transferred from, and Winthrop where D.J. Burns first transferred to after leaving Knoxville.

The Bulldogs’ only NCAA tournament appearance was in 2019, a 71-56 loss to eventual national champion Virginia. Apparently a documentary called The Dancin’ Bulldogs was made about this tournament appearance.

First-year coach Jeremy Luther was promoted to the role from within. Former coach Tim Craft was in Boiling Springs for a decade before Western Carolina hired him away this offseason.

As far as the roster is concerned, it’s a completely different group than the 2023-24 Bulldogs. Essentially every player on last year’s squad either graduated or hit the portal, which is the new reality for the best players at every mid-major program.

Rick Barnes told media Thursday this team is aggressive on offense in its ability to cut and take shots early in the possession. These two elements should make a worthy test for Tennessee Monday.