TSWA recognizes college players of the week - Nov. 5

November 6, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee junior running back Dylan Sampson continued his strong season this past Saturday with the 28-18 win over Kentucky and claiming his third Tennessee Sports Writers Association Football Offensive Player of the Week honor on Tuesday.

The Baton Rouge, La., native shattered a 95-year-old single-season rushing touchdown record for his 19th of the season as he collected a career-high 142 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns against the Wildcats. The 19 rushing scores placed Sampson in a six-way tie for tenth in the Southeastern Conference’s single-season leaderboard.

The game was his SEC-best seventh 100-yard game of the year and he became the first Volunteer to score a rushing touchdown in eight straight games in the same season. Sampson is now tied for second in Tennessee’s single-season 100-yard rushing games.

On the defensive side, Tennessee Tech sophomore linebacker Cayman Spaulding was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week after he recorded six total tackles – four solo and two assisted – with 2.5 for-loss and a four-yard sack. The big blow came as he intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown in the Golden Eagles’ 52-10 Big South-Ohio Valley Conference win over Lindenwood.

Spaulding anchored a Tech defense that held the Lions to 68 rushing yards on 36 carries a week after they rushed for 389 against Western Illinois. It was Tech’s fourth game this season holding opponents under 100 rushing yards.

VOLLEYBALL: Tennessee Tech junior setter Jordan Karlen was named the Volleyball Player of the Week as she delivered another spectacular weekend directing the Golden Eagle offense in a split at Ohio Valley Conference leader Southeast Missouri, handing the Redhawks one of their two league losses.

In all, Karlen averaged 11.1 assists, 3.1 digs, 0.67 aces and 0.67 blocks per set as she recorded 100 assists, 28 digs, six aces and six blocks in all. On Friday, the Janesville, Wisc., native posted 50 assists with four kills, three aces, seven digs and three blocks. She followed it up with 50 assists on Saturday with three aces, three blocks and 21 digs.

MEN’S SOCCER: Trevecca freshman forward Chris Douglas recorded a four-point week as the St. Johns, Antigua native scored a goal and picked up two assists as the Trojans topped Union 4-2. The victory locked up Trevecca’s first appearance in the Gulf South Conference tournament and first postseason appearance for the program since 2017.

Douglas is Trevecca’s leading goal scorer and points leader as a freshman.

2024-25 TSWA College Players of the Week
FOOTBALL
9/3 | Offensive: Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt); Defensive: Bryan Longwell (Vanderbilt)
9/10 | Offensive: Sam Phillips (Chattanooga); Defensive: Elijah Herring (Memphis)
9/17 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: Alex Mitchell (Chattanooga)
9/24 | Offensive: La’Vell Wright (Austin Peay); Defensive: Major Williams (Carson-Newman)
10/1 | Offensive: Chase Artopoeus (Chattanooga); Defensive: Theron Gaines (Tennessee Tech)
10/8 | Offensive: Jayden Sullins (Carson-Newman); Defensive: Bryan Longwell (Vanderbilt)
10/15 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee)
10/22 | Offensive: Mario Anderson Jr. (Memphis); Defensive: Will Brooks (Tennessee)
10/29 | Offensive: Dawson White (Sewanee); Defensive: Chandler Martin (Memphis)
11/5 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: Cayman Spaulding (Tennessee Tech)

TSWA Prep Poll presented by CoachT.com - Nov. 4

November 4, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced football rankings after Week 11 on Monday, with the poll presented by CoachT.com. Top 10 teams in each of the six Division I classifications and Top 5 in three Division II classes were selected by TSWA members with first-place votes in parentheses and total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 10th-place vote.

Class A
1. McKenzie (10-0) – 100 (10)
2. Coalfield (9-1) – 89
3. Union City (8-2) – 72
4. South Pittsburg (8-2) – 62
5. Oliver Springs (8-2) – 60
6. MASE (8-1) – 52
7. Clay County (8-2) – 45
8. South Fulton (8-2) – 24
9. Cosby (8-2) – 17
10. Whitwell (7-3) – 13
Others receiving votes: Halls 8, Gordonsville 3, Chattanooga Prep 3, Middle College 2

Class 2A
t1. Fairley (9-0) – 100 (7)
t1. Milan (9-1) – 100 (3)
3. East Robertson (9-1) – 89 (1)
4. Bledsoe County (9-1) – 65
5. York Institute (8-2) – 53
6. Huntingdon (8-2) – 50
7. Westmoreland (8-2) – 43
8. Marion County (8-2) – 40
9. South Greene (8-1) – 20
10. East Hickman (8-2) – 15
Others receiving votes: Decatur County Riverside 9, Jackson Central-Merry 8, Happy Valley 5, Loretto 2, Summertown 2, Memphis Business 2, Forrest 1, Monterey 1

Class 3A
1. Alcoa (8-1) – 108 (10)
2. Westview (10-0) – 94 (1)
3. Covington (9-1) – 84
4. Sequatchie County (9-1) – 70
5. East Nashville (8-2) – 61
6. Unicoi County (9-1) – 59
7. Johnson County (8-2) – 35
8. Bolton (8-2) – 22
9. Meigs County (7-3) – 17
10. Gatlinburg-Pittman (7-3) – 14
Others receiving votes: White House Heritage 13, Sheffield 12, Dyersburg 10, Pigeon Forge 4, Tyner Academy 2

Class 4A
1. Upperman (10-0) – 109 (10)
2. Marshall County (10-0) – 89
3. Anderson County (8-1) – 78
4. Greeneville (7-2) – 65 (1)
5. Loudon (10-0) – 63
6. Dyer County (9-1) – 53
7. Pearl-Cohn (7-3) – 42
8. Soddy Daisy (9-1) – 28
9. Gibbs (9-1) – 25
10. White County (8-2) – 21
Others receiving votes: Haywood 15, Macon County 14, Signal Mountain 2, Cherokee 1

Class 5A
1. Page (10-0) – 109 (10)
2. Sevier County (10-0) – 95 (1)
3. Beech (9-1) – 77
4. Southwind (9-1) – 64
5. Munford (9-1) – 63
6. Powell (8-2) – 49
7. Shelbyville (9-1) – 48
8. Knox West (7-3) – 43
9. East Hamilton (7-3) – 14
10. Tennessee High (8-2) – 13
Others receiving votes: Walker Valley 12, Hendersonville 7, Henry County 6, Knox Halls 5

Class 6A
1. Ravenwood (10-0) – 107 (10)
2. Oakland (9-1) – 93 (1)
3. Maryville (9-1) – 80
4. Green Hill (10-0) – 66
5. Clarksville (10-0) – 42
t6. Collierville (9-1) – 38
t6. Mt. Juliet (9-1) – 38
8. Germantown Houston (8-2) – 34
9. Riverdale (8-2) – 33
10. Brentwood (8-2) – 29
Others receiving votes: Stewarts Creek 17, Bearden 8, Cleveland 5, Science Hill 5, Bartlett 3, Cookeville 3, Dobyns-Bennett 2, Rossview 2

Division II-A
1. Jackson Christian (9-1) – 50 (10)
2. Nashville Christian (9-1) – 40
t3. Donelson Christian (8-2) – 24
t3. Columbia Academy (7-3) – 24
5. Friendship Christian (7-3) – 11
Others receiving votes: Trinity Christian 1

Division II-AA
t1. Christ Presbyterian (10-0) – 45 (5)
t1. Boyd Buchanan (10-0) – 45 (5)
3. Franklin Road Academy (9-1) – 26
4. University School of Jackson (9-1) – 11
5. Battle Ground Academy (8-2) – 9
Others receiving votes: Grace Christian-Knoxville 6, Silverdale Academy 5, Lausanne 2, Northpoint Christian 1

Division II-AAA
1. Baylor (10-0) – 50 (10)
2. Ensworth (10-0) – 39
3. McCallie (8-2) – 31
4. Brentwood Academy (7-3) – 17
5. Father Ryan (7-3) – 9
Others receiving votes: Knox Catholic 2, Lipscomb Academy 1, Montgomery Bell Academy 1

College players of the week announced - Oct. 29

October 29, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sewanee running back Dawson White powered the Tigers to a 31-7 victory over Rhodes College on Saturday to reclaim the Orgill Cup for the first time since 2018. His effort led to a selection as the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Football Offensive Player of the Week.

In all, the Lynchburg, Tenn., native rushed for 138 yards and scored two touchdowns on 27 carries. He had a big second half, collecting 97 of those yards in the second half.

On the defensive side, Memphis redshirt junior linebacker Chandler Martin had a big game to lead the Tigers to a 33-28 victory over Charlotte. With just 19 seconds left to play, Martin combined with William Whitlow Jr. to force a safety and lock up the victory.

The Lithonia, Ga., product was named the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week, recording 11 tackles and two sacks in addition to the game-clinching safety.

VOLLEYBALL: Tennessee Tech junior setter Jordan Karlen continued her strong pace this season, earning the Volleyball Player of the Week honor. In two matches this week, the Janesville, Wisc., native collected 104 assists – 13.0 per set – with 35 digs, seven kills and four blocks.

Karlen had two double-doubles in Tech’s two matches vs. Little Rock, posting 50 assists and a career-high 23 digs on Friday, before following up with 54 assists and 12 digs on Saturday.

MEN’S SOCCER: Carson-Newman junior forward Ben Dukes scored the Eagles’ first hat trick since 2021 as he was tabbed as this week’s Men’s Soccer Player of the Week. The hat trick came in an 8-0 victory over Newberry as he scored three goals in exactly 20 minutes and 15 seconds.

It was the third-fastest hat trick in the past 15 seasons for the Eagles and just the fourth time that a hat trick came in just one half in program history. Dukes also added a fourth goal for the week in a 2-1 victory over Wingate on Saturday.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Union sophomore midfielder Irene Arias was selected as the Women’s Soccer Player of the Week, scoring three goals on three shots as she played all 180 minutes. She picked up a pair of goals in Union’s 3-2 loss at Valdosta State, then scored the game-winner at Auburn-Montgomery on Sunday as the team clinched a berth in the Gulf South Conference Championships.

2024-25 TSWA College Players of the Week
FOOTBALL
9/3 | Offensive: Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt); Defensive: Bryan Longwell (Vanderbilt)
9/10 | Offensive: Sam Phillips (Chattanooga); Defensive: Elijah Herring (Memphis)
9/17 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: Alex Mitchell (Chattanooga)
9/24 | Offensive: La’Vell Wright (Austin Peay); Defensive: Major Williams (Carson-Newman)
10/1 | Offensive: Chase Artopoeus (Chattanooga); Defensive: Theron Gaines (Tennessee Tech)
10/8 | Offensive: Jayden Sullins (Carson-Newman); Defensive: Bryan Longwell (Vanderbilt)
10/15 | Offensive: Dylan Sampson (Tennessee); Defensive: James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee)
10/22 | Offensive: Mario Anderson Jr. (Memphis); Defensive: Will Brooks (Tennessee)
10/29 | Offensive: Dawson White (Sewanee); Defensive: Chandler Martin (Memphis)

TSWA Prep Poll presented by CoachT.com - Oct. 28

October 28, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced football rankings after Week 10 on Monday, with the poll presented by CoachT.com. Top 10 teams in each of the six Division I classifications and Top 5 in three Division II classes were selected by TSWA members with first-place votes in parentheses and total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 10th-place vote.

Class A
1. McKenzie (9-0) – 140 (14)
2. Coalfield (8-1) – 125
3. Union City (7-2) – 97
4. Oliver Springs (7-2) – 87
5. South Pittsburg (7-2) – 80
6. Whitwell (7-2) – 70
7. MASE (7-1) – 63
8. Clay County (7-2) – 40
9. Middle College (8-1) – 19
10. South Fulton (7-2) – 16
Others receiving votes: Cosby 10, Halls 6, Gordonsville 5, Chattanooga Prep 5, Houston County 4, North Greene 3

Class 2A
1. Fairley (8-0) – 135 (12)
2. Milan (8-1) – 124 (2)
3. East Robertson (8-1) – 107
4. Bledsoe County (8-1) – 89
5. Huntingdon (7-2) – 70
6. York Institute (7-2) – 60
7. Westmoreland (7-2) – 53
8. East Hickman (8-1) – 45
9. Marion County (7-2) – 38
10. South Greene (7-1) – 25
Others receiving votes: Jackson Central-Merry 10, Happy Valley 6, Decatur County Riverside 3, Memphis Business 2, Monterey 1, Mitchell 1, Summertown 1

Class 3A
1. Alcoa (6-1) – 139 (13)
2. Covington (9-0) – 126 (1)
3. Westview (9-0) – 113
4. Sequatchie County (8-1) – 89
5. Johnson County (8-1) – 77
6. Unicoi County (7-1) – 69
7. East Nashville (7-2) – 61
8. Meigs County (7-2) – 43
9. Bolton (7-2) – 20
10. Memphis East (7-2) – 14
Others receiving votes: Dyersburg 7, White House Heritage 6, Gatlinburg-Pittman 5, Tyner Academy 1

Class 4A
1. Upperman (9-0) – 139 (13)
2. Marshall County (9-0) – 118
3. Anderson County (7-1) – 104
4. Greeneville (6-2) – 90 (1)
5. Loudon (9-0) – 78
6. Pearl-Cohn (7-2) – 75
7. Haywood (7-2) – 49
8. Dyer County (8-1) – 32
9. Gibbs (8-1) – 32
10. Soddy Daisy (8-1) – 24
Others receiving votes: White County 16, Macon County 6, Elizabethton 5, East Ridge 2

Class 5A
1. Page (9-0) – 139 (13)
2. Sevier County (9-0) – 122 (1)
3. Powell (8-1) – 107
4. Beech (8-1) – 99
5. Munford (8-1) – 77
6. Southwind (8-1) – 74
7. Shelbyville (8-1) – 60
8. Walker Valley (7-2) – 43
9. Knox West (6-3) – 25
10. Hendersonville (7-2) – 16
Others receiving votes: Knoxv Halls 3, Tennessee 3, Memphis Central 1, East Hamilton 1

Class 6A
1. Ravenwood (9-0) – 139 (13)
2. Oakland (8-1) – 116
3. Collierville (9-0) – 111 (1)
4. Maryville (8-1) – 93
5. Mt. Juliet (9-0) – 82
6. Brentwood (8-1) – 68
7. Riverdale (8-1) – 53
8. Science Hill (7-1) – 39
9. Green Hill (9-0) – 31
10. Clarksville (9-0) – 28
Others receiving votes: Germantown Houston 8, Stewarts Creek 1, Bearden 1

Division II-A
1. Jackson Christian (8-1) – 65 (13)
2. Nashville Christian (8-1) – 52
3. Donelson Christian (8-1) – 39
4. Columbia Academy (6-3) – 24
5. Trinity Christian (6-3) – 13
Others receiving votes: Friendship Christian 2

Division II-AA
1. Christ Presbyterian (9-0) – 62 (10)
2. Boyd Buchanan (9-0) – 55 (3)
3. Franklin Road Academy (8-1) – 34
4. Grace Christian-Knoxville (8-1) – 18
5. Lausanne (6-1) – 10
Others receiving votes: University School of Jackson 8, Silverdale Academy 5, Battle Ground Academy 3

Division II-AAA
1. Baylor (9-0) – 65 (13)
2. Ensworth (9-0) – 51
3. McCallie (7-2) – 40
4. Brentwood Academy (6-3) – 26
5. Father Ryan (6-3) – 11
Others receiving votes: Lipscomb Academy 2

Bailey, Franks, Wyatt voted to TSWA Hall of Fame

October 24, 2024 Forrest Freeman

By Teresa Walker
twalker@ap.org

A sports writer whose byline usually gets cut off most of the stories he’s written, a sports information director who helped publicize athletes and coaches and also worked to promote the then-Houston Oilers’ relocation to Tennessee and a sports writer who owned his beat so well the team he covered for so many years finally hired him are the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee class for the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

Clay Bailey has been a fixture covering sports in Memphis with a career spanning decades. Johnny “Ballpark” Franks won multiple awards both for himself and for the athletes and coaches he helped promote at Tennessee State University and others. Jim Wyatt started covering high school sports in his Nashville hometown before becoming The Tennessean’s beat writer for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans from 1999 until the team hired him as a senior writer and editor in 2015.

They will be inducted into the TSWA Hall of Fame in July 2025 as part of the association’s annual awards ceremony.

Bailey's journalism career has spanned decades working at the Memphis Press-Scimitar to The Commercial Appeal and as the first sports editor of The Daily Memphian. While he's never been a staff sports writer, he was sports editor of The Daily Memphian for nearly two years starting with the online news site’s launch in 2018. He has covered every major sporting event in Memphis for nearly 50 years, first for UPI in the 1980s until going to work for The Associated Press in the late 1980s to this day.

He covered every NBA regular season and playoff home game since the arrival of the Grizzlies in Memphis in 2001 – the only reporter to cover the Grizzlies in Memphis regularly since their arrival. NCAA Basketball Tournaments, the Liberty Bowl, University of Memphis men's basketball and football, the PGA Tour, ATP Tour events, Michael Jordan’s minor league baseball appearance, several boxing bouts and some NASCAR races. He covered Larry Finch’s firing as Tigers’ head coach to a female protestor jumping on the court during the Grizzlies’ 2022 playoff series with Minnesota.

During the 2000 Conference USA Tournament, Bailey filed breaking news to AP for the injury that ended Kenyon Martin’s season for No. 1 Cincinnati. Bailey went to the locker room at halftime for an injury update, then went back courtside helping cover the country’s biggest sports story that day.

He has played an integral role in major breaking sports news stories from Memphis, using his news sources to cover everything from coaching hires to conference realignment. Bailey confirmed the body found was that of Memphis legend and former NBA player Lorenzen Wright in 2010.

Franks started as media relations director in October 1986 for the Nashville Sounds through August 1988. He helped create the Sounds’ first record guide researching more than 1,300 box scores.

He served as sports information director for Tennessee State from August 1988 through February 1998, with another stint between April 1999 and 2001. He raised money for all media guides, game programs and other publications and helped first-year TSU women’s coach Teresa Lawrence (now Phillips) win USA Today’s national coach of the year honor for the 1989-90 season.

He also helped promote TSU track star Edith McGuire Duvall for the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award in 1991, and she became only the second female to win the award started in 1973 followed by Wyomia Tyus in 1993.

Franks shared the Cal Jacox-Champ Clark Award for the best sports information director from a HBCU for the 1991-92 school year before winning that award for 1994-95 and 1995-96. His 1995 football media guide was named best cover for Division I-AA by CoSIDA.

He won the Society of Professional Journalists’ Journalism Excellence Award in 1997 and also wrote a weekly TSU sports column for several years for the weekly Metropolitan Times. Franks went to work for Fish, Sherwood & Friends in February 1998, working on the then-Tennessee Oilers and TENNFL during the team’s transition to Nashville. He started his own radio show in April 2008 that continues to the present day.

Wyatt is a Nashville native who started working at The Tennessean in 1990 as a part-time prep writer after graduating from Father Ryan High School (1984) and the University of Tennessee (1989). He went full-time in 1997 and served as the high school sports coordinator in 1997 and 1998. Wyatt won first place as ‘Best Prep Writer’ in 1998-99 by the TSWA.

He began covering the Titans in 1999, first with the Tennessean, from 1999 until the summer of 2015. Wyatt was hired by the Tennessee Titans in 2015 and has been the team’s Senior Writer/Editor since.

He is a six-time Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013), now known as the National Sports Media Association. The Associated Press Sports Editors twice named him one of the Top 10 beat writers in the country.

He was named ‘Best Event Writer’ by the TSWA in 2004 and ‘Best News Writer’ in 2005. He wrote “Tales from the Titans Sidelines” in 2005. He also has covered 24 straight Super Bowls starting with the Titans’ lone berth in 1999.