Tennessee AD Danny White claps back at Purdue president on social media
The Tennessee Vols fell to the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday night at the Maui Invitational 71-67. The game was an intensely physical one, with whistles seemingly being blown on almost every trip down the court. And it wasn't only the players locking horns. Two people of high authority among the schools were doling out some […]
The Tennessee Vols fell to the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday night at the Maui Invitational 71-67. The game was an intensely physical one, with whistles seemingly being blown on almost every trip down the court.
And it wasn't only the players locking horns. Two people of high authority among the schools were doling out some shots, too.
Purdue president Dr. Mung Chiang thumbed out a tweet (or message on "X", if you will) criticizing Tennessee for being too physical, calling the Vols a "wrestling team".
Tennessee Athletic Director, who is routinely active on the app, responded to the school's president with a message of his own.
White's response is much more in line with what was happening in the game. It was certainly a physical battle, but one that went both ways with physicality. The Vols ended up committing more fouls in the game, but when you're trying to defend a player who is 7'4" like Zach Edey, who towers above even Tennessee's tallest players, that often involving drawing a lot of fouls.
Purdue was handsy and physical themselves, as they put Tennessee into the bonus with 12:57 left in the second half. Basically, it was just a tough game between two physical teams.
It's also pretty weak that Dr. Chiang chose to thumb out his tweet while turning off the comments, only allowing people to respond through quote tweets. Tossing out an insult and hiding behind an app feature is akin to slapping someone in the face and hiding behind your friends.
Unfortunately, Tennessee couldn't quite back up the talk off the court, as the Vols couldn't get a couple of big shots in the game's final minutes that they needed in order to pull off the win. The Vols will get another shot at a top two team on Wednesday, as they face the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the third-place game at 2:30 pm.
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