clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Tennessee Basketball Assistant Adam Howard Resigns

A top-level Donnie Tyndall assistant resigns, immediately raising questions about the NCAA investigation at Southern Miss.

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

As the NCAA continues to investigate possible infractions at Southern Miss during Donnie Tyndall's time in Hattiesburg, many believe a possible first domino fell in Knoxville today.  Vol assistant coach Adam Howard resigned on Monday; a quick press release from the university cited "personal reasons".  Given the current climate many in the public aren't buying the rationale, and tweets like this fully support that notion:

But wait, there's more good news!

So here's what you've got:  a Tennessee team down a lead assistant heading to Orlando to play in a loaded field this week, a head coach who has appeared in all of two games on Tennessee's sideline who will now be under additional questioning and additional pressure, and a present and immediate future looking worse by the day.  The Vols were already braced for their worst basketball season in a decade.  This kind of immediate turnover could cause additional serious setback, and a program that has been to four Sweet Sixteens in the last eight years feels a long, long way from home.

As the NCAA investigates Southern Miss in regards to how non-scholarship players paid for tuition, etc, there's clearly uncertainty here, but now enough certainty for a high-level assistant to resign.  It's been true many times in his tenure, but I would love to be a fly on Dave Hart's wall especially now.  What is he thinking?  What's the best long-term option for Tennessee?  How long will we have to wait to see if Tyndall receives a notice, how much of this could have been discovered in the search process, how much do we know now that caused an assistant to go down?

It's a fragile time around here.  The Vols need to beat Vanderbilt Saturday in a bad way.