Former Tennessee player takes a weird dig at Vols on social media after loss to Houston in NCAA Tournament
February 12, 2011; Gainesville, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers center Brian Williams (33) reacts after losing to the against the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida Gators defeated Tennessee Volunteers 61-60.
The times have been very good over the last decade with Rick Barnes at the helm, regardless of the Vols’ disappointing 69-50 loss to Houston on Sunday in the Elite Eight. With two Elite Eight appearances, four Sweet Sixteens, two SEC regular season championships, and that elusive SEC tournament title, along with a number of stretches at the top of the polls, times have been terrific in Knoxville.
However, one former Vol believes the best team in Tennessee basketball history comes during a prior era, and he picked a strange time to remind everyone about that.
Former Vols center Brian Williams thumbed out a post on Twitter/X almost to the minute as the Vols’ season came to an end, proclaiming his team as the best in UT history, and “don’t ever forget that”.
First, well, that’s just not true. Williams, who averaged 5 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game over his four-year career from 2007-2011, is presumably talking about the 2009-10 team, which came up just short against Michigan State 70-69 in the school’s first-ever Elite Eight appearance. That team, while almost achieving a program first, finished 28-9 and 15th in the Final AP Poll, with no SEC regular season or tournament titles under their belt and didn’t sniff the top spot in the polls during the year.
Over the last two years, Tennessee made it back to the Elite Eight while also reaching the #1 spot in the polls each season. Dalton Knecht had the best season in Tennessee history, and if not for a ridiculously unfair whistle against Purdue, the Vols might have snapped that streak of Final Four futility last year. This year saw a team built on heart and defense – and an SEC-record-breaking year from Zakai Zeigler (single-season assists) – miss out because of one of those offensive disappearing acts that plagued them at times. The 2022 team also brought home an SEC tournament title, one of the most frustrating and elusive titles among any sport for the school.
But it’s more than just who’s the best. It’s the timing and the message. Why post that, and why post that then? Tennessee alumni almost always celebrate the programs successes and lament the losses, but here, Williams appears to be doing just the opposite.
If the Vols can get back to the Elite Eight for a third straight year in 2026, it appears at least one former player won’t be in their corner to take a giant leap forward for the program.
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