BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 5, 2007
Contact: Mark Hancock, Media & Public Relations, Phone (865) 522-8547,
or Hilary Phillips, E-Mail: tipoff@utfan.com

ABC/ESPN NATIONAL BASKETBALL ANALYST JIMMY DYKES TO BE BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB SPEAKER TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6^TH

The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its next scheduled meeting this coming Tuesday, February 6, at 11:00 a.m., at Calhoun’s on the River in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet luncheon will be served for only $12.50 for members and $15 for guests, including a variety of entrees and side dishes, drink, dessert, etc. Jimmy Dykes, a national basketball analyst for ABC and ESPN, will be the featured speaker.

Due to the overwhelming demand for parking at Calhoun’s, please plan to arrive as early as possible for this meeting. Calhoun’s will open the buffet line at 11:00 a.m. to accommodate what is expected to be another overflow standing-room-only crowd to hear Jimmy, who is in demand as a speaker and will be part of ESPN’s announcing team for the UT-LSU men’s game tomorrow night in Knoxville.

THIS WEEK’S VOL & LADY VOL BASKETBALL CALENDAR: UT Men’s Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl is also expected to be in attendance to say a few words about his team’s big nationally-televised home game with LSU on Tuesday night, and also a look ahead to the home game with Vanderbilt this coming Saturday. UT Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt will also hopefully be in attendance to speak to us, as she will just be coming off their big nationally televised “Rivalry Week” TV game with Georgia tonight on ESPN2, and will be preparing for their annual road trip to Auburn on Thursday night, as well as their big “February Frenzy” home game with Kentucky this coming Sunday, also on ESPN2, in which all fans are encouraged to “Paint the Town Orange” by wearing Big Orange clothing to the game to dazzle the national television audience.

The fact that both UT’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are drawing capacity crowds and are ranked high in the college RPI, will drive attendance upward for this meeting. UT Men’s and Women’s Athletics Directors Mike Hamilton and Joan Cronan are also expected to be on hand.

BUS TRIP TO U.T.- SOUTH CAROLINA MEN’S GAME IN COLUMBIA: The Club is gauging interest in a bus trip to the Tennessee-South Carolina men’s basketball game in Columbia, which will tip off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, February 17. Coach Bruce Pearl has encouraged all Vol fans to go on the road to support the team as they attempt to sweep the Gamecocks this season. If we get enough people to commit to the trip, we will arrange through our corporate sponsor, Premier Transportation, for nonstop luxury motorcoach roundtrip transportation, meals and entertainment en route, and tickets to the game, all for only $99 per person. This would be a day-only trip that would leave Knoxville mid-morning before the game and return immediately after the game.

We will have a sign-up sheet at the meeting tomorrow for those who are interested in going, and will take your check or credit card number to secure your place if we can get enough people interested. We would also encourage you to email Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com immediately or call Lloyd Richardson at 588-5433 or fax him at 588-2083 if you have an interest in making this trip, so that we can secure enough game tickets for everyone before they are sold out. If this trip proves to be successful, we may also do another one for the Georgia game in Athens on Saturday, March 3.

FEBRUARY 27 SECOND-ANNUAL PRE-GAME BASH AND SEASON FINALE EVENING DINNER GALA EVENT TICKET ORDER FORM ATTACHED: The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its second-annual pre-game bash and season finale evening dinner gala event, on Tuesday evening, February 27, at 6:45 p.m., at The Foundry at World’s Fair Park in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet dinner will be served. UT alumnus, Denver Post journalist, and nationally-known ESPN television personality Woody Paige will be speaking just prior to the final Senior Night home UT men’s basketball game against Florida, which tips off at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27.

The UT cheerleaders and Big Orange Banditos Band will be there as well, making it a festive pre-game pep rally. Dress is “game casual”, so whatever you plan to wear to the game, jeans, sweater, etc., is fine. We are keeping things very informal and prices low so it is affordable for the whole family or all your clients. A special commemorative "thank you" collectible gift will be given to everyone that you don't want to miss.

Tickets are only $20 for members, $25 for guests, and $250 for a reserved table of 10, and are now on sale. Many tables have already been reserved and space is limited. The cash bars will open at 5:30 p.m. and the buffet lines will begin at 6:00 p.m., with the program to start at 6:45 p.m. The event will be over by 8:00 p.m., in plenty of time to get to the big game, since it has a late tipoff time and it is only a short 5-minute ride through Fort Sanders from the Foundry to the arena. We expect this event to be a sellout, as was last year’s, so please get your tickets early so that you won’t get left out.

Parking will be free and plentiful. Roving photographers will be there to take individual, group, and candid photos that you will be able to purchase as souvenirs. We expect many former players to attend. There will be a silent auction of autographed UT basketballs signed by our speakers for the year, as well as by the UT men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs and lettermen. Attached please find a ticket order form for that event for you to print and mail, fax, or e-mail back, or bring it with you along with your check to the meeting tomorrow to purchase your tickets, which are going fast. The form is also available on our website.

OFFICIAL BIG ORANGE TIPOFF PHOTOS: Many of you may not be aware that we now have an official Big Orange Tipoff Club photographer, Megan Ellis. You may have seen her roaming around our big meeting room taking pictures before, during, and after our meetings. If you would like Megan to take some photos of you, the people at your table, your guests, etc., please don’t hesitate to flag her down when you see her and her camera, as she will be most happy to do so for you. To view and purchase pictures from last week’s Big Orange Tipoff Club meeting and those for future meetings from her, please go to www.meganellisphotography.com and click on the “TN LOGIN” page. The password is simply “tipoff”. You can also e-mail Megan with any questions you may have at megan@meganellisphotography.com .

THIS WEEK’S SPEAKER: For the past 11 years, Jimmy Dykes has been a national college basketball analyst for ESPN and ABC-TV. Jimmy was a 3-year basketball letterman at the University of Arkansas under Head Coach Eddie Sutton. Prior to his media career, Dykes was an assistant basketball coach at Arkansas, Appalachian State, Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock, and Oklahoma State. Dykes is also an NBA Scout for the Seattle Supersonics, and since 2003, has also been a college football reporter for ESPN. He is widely known and highly regarded, and is much in demand as Master of Ceremonies for major events. We are glad to welcome him to Knoxville as both our Big Orange Tipoff Club featured speaker this week and to broadcast the Tennessee-LSU men’s basketball game nationally on ESPN on Tuesday night a 9 p.m. Eastern time.

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: The Big Orange Tipoff Club will also be hosting the Knox County boys and girls high school basketball players of the week, as they do weekly, who will be awarded certificates by prep sports Editor Jesse Smithey of The Knoxville News-Sentinel and will be honored along with their coaches.

PICK AND WIN: One lucky member each week will win a pair of tickets to each of the next home UT men’s and women’s basketball games by participating in the club’s weekly Pick’N’Win Contest for only $1 and picking the winners of a selection of men’s and women’s SEC games. The club will have several surprise celebrity guests on hand regularly, including former players, coaches, and other nationally-known basketball personalities.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE: The club is still soliciting individual members at only $75 and discounted senior citizen memberships at only $60. Spouses of members are free, making this an excellent deal. In addition, corporate memberships, which include up to 5 members of a firm, are still being offered at only $250.

Annual membership applications are still available by calling Club President Lloyd Richardson at (865) 588-5433, by faxing a request to (865) 588-2083, by e-mailing at tipoff@utfan.com , or by visiting the website at www.utfan.com/tipoff . A membership application for downloading with the Big Orange Tipoff Club logo on it is available on the website.

All former UT men’s and women’s basketball lettermen, former UT Orange Tie Club members, Knoxville Quarterback Club members, VASF donors, Boost-Her Club members, UT students, UT alumni and friends, as well as the general public, are invited to attend and join as well. Legendary former UT Head Basketball Coach Ray Mears is an Honorary Member. Many members of the UT athletics administration, coaches, etc., are in attendance regularly.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All media are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to record and film any portion of the meeting, ask questions of Jimmy Dykes in a public forum at the conclusion of his remarks, and will be able to interview him, as time allows, on both a group and individual basis. Each of our meetings so far has been covered extensively by print and broadcast media, including TV stations and several newspapers. Local talk show hosts are planning live remote radio broadcasts for some meetings.

All media are also invited to call J. Mark Hancock at (865) 522-8547 or e-mail Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com to schedule radio, television, and newspaper interviews with various Big Orange Tipoff Club steering committee members, including Charles W. Morgan, Barry J. Smith, Michael J. Turner, Christy Gentry, J. Mark Hancock, and Club Historian R. Larry Smith regarding the club, its promotion of UT basketball, its purposes, its sponsoring of awards and contributions to scholarships, and its charitable endeavors in supporting college and amateur athletics in East Tennessee. Steering committee members have been making radio and television appearances and doing newspaper interviews regularly, and are available for speaking engagements to any groups.

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE: The Big Orange Tipoff Club is offering special merchandise for sale with the distinctive club logo on it, including T-shirts and caps, each for the low price of only $10. Only a limited number of each is available, and they are quickly becoming collectors’ items.

NEXT WEEK’S AND FUTURE SPEAKERS: Next week’s Big Orange Tipoff Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 13, with Tom Boerwinkle, former UT Vols and Chicago Bulls star as the featured gameday speaker on the day of the UT-Kentucky men's game in Knoxville.

Next week, our University of Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team will be taking on our archrival, the Kentucky Wildcats, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN. This game marks several important milestones in UT basketball history:

1. It is the 30^th anniversary of Tennessee’s 1977 SEC Championship team, which won twice over Kentucky, once in overtime. That team, which featured Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Co-Captain Mike Jackson, and several others, will be honored at halftime of next week’s game and Bernard King will be especially honored that night, as he will be returning to campus for the first time in those 30 years.
2. It is the 35^th anniversary of the 1972 SEC Championship team, of which our own Lloyd Richardson was chosen as Captain, many of whom will also be in attendance next week.
3. It is the 40^th anniversary of the 1967 SEC Championship team, captained by Ron Widby, which also won twice over Kentucky, once in double overtime, which featured Tom Boerwinkle as our 7-foot center, who went on to star for the Chicago Bulls, and many members of that team will also be in attendance.

All of these 3 teams have one thing in common. They all had Coach Ray Mears at the helm. As many of you know, Coach Mears has been battling quite a few health problems. However, he is going to do his best to be at this game and visit with the only players that won SEC championships under his leadership.

We will be having a special luncheon that will begin at 11 a.m. on gameday, Tuesday, February 13, 2007, at Calhoun’s on the River. Tom Boerwinkle will be the featured speaker. Coach Mears and his family are going to try to attend, as well as Coach Stu Aberdeen’s widow, Lynn, and their family.

Please consider this as your special invitation to join us for this special luncheon as our honored guest to join in the fun, food, and fellowship of our club. We are going to make this a day to remember.

Other speakers to follow in our stellar 2007 lineup include former Alabama head basketball coach Wimp Sanderson on February 20, and UT alumnus and ESPN commentator Woody Paige for our evening event on February 27 mentioned above. All weekly meetings this season are on Tuesdays, so please mark your calendars to plan to be there for all of them.

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