If you're looking for a nice diversion from all this football anticipation as we sit 12 weeks away from kickoff, the Rocky Top Basketball League begins its third season of play on Monday at Bearden High School in Knoxville.  The six team summer league will feature games at 6:00, 7:30 and 9:00 PM each Monday and Wednesday night for the next three weeks, with free admission.  The summer league style of play may not be conducive to producing discipline and wise shot selection...but Bruce Pearl will be quick to point out that he likes the conditioning it provides, it's become a nice presence for Tennessee Basketball in the offseason in a short time, and regardless of its shortcomings, it's highly entertaining.

The league is also a great chance to see not only current Vols, but Vols past and future, as well as other local talent.  The draft was held on Wednesday, with CJ Watson selected with the first pick.  The league has its own official site that will do stat-tracking throughout the season, and where you can see the complete rosters for each team.  A couple of notes - it's unclear if Chris Lofton will make it through Knoxville in the next three weeks to participate, but if he's available he's said he'll play.  And JP Prince appears to be a no-go this year in the league as he recovers from offseason surgery.  

Here's a quick look at each team, where the Vols have landed, and who else of note will be featured in the league this year (the league is sponsored by Pilot with each team carrying an additional corporate sponsor):

Knoxville News-Sentinel

• Current Vols:  Scotty Hopson, Brian Williams
• Future Vols:  Skylar McBee
• Ex-Vols:  Dane Bradshaw, Ben Bosse (now at King College)

HT Group

• Current Vols:  Wayne Chism, Renaldo Woolridge
• Other Notables:  Boo Jackson (Eastern Michigan), Jon Primm (UNC-Asheville), Jalen Steele (Fulton High School, Knoxville)

Ray's ESG

• Current Vols:  Steven Pearl
• Future Vols:  Kenny Hall
• Ex-Vols:  CJ Watson, Jon Higgins, Ron Slay

Richardson Construction

• Current Vols:  Tyler Smith, Josh Tabb
• Ex-Vols:  Damon Johnson
• Other Notables:  John Mueller (Marquette), Tony White Jr. (College of Charleston)

First Tennessee Bank

• Current Vols:  Emmanuel Negedu, Bobby Maze
• Ex-Vols:  Rashard Lee

Choice Spine

• Current Vols:  Cameron Tatum
• Ex-Vols:  CJ Black