Report: Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello under NCAA inquiry for alleged tampering involving Maui Ahuna

A major storyline to start Tennessee’s baseball season has been the absence of transfer shortstop Maui Ahuna. The junior played the last two years at Kansas before committing to play for Tony Vitello this offseason. However, his inability to play so far this year makes a lot more sense based on the latest update out of Knoxville.

According to Trey Wallace at OutKick, Vitello is under an NCAA inquiry. This has everything to do with why Ahuna hasn’t competed yet this season as the inquiry is looking to alleged tampering by the Volunteers.

“According to multiple sources in college baseball, the Vols and head coach Tony Vitello are dealing with an NCAA inquiry for its recruitment of Ahuna,” Wallace wrote. “The inquiry began in July 2022, one month after Ahuna committed to transferring to Tennessee.”

Ahuna started 53 games for Kansas last season where he was All Big-12 First Team. After his pair of seasons in Lawrence, he committed to play for Vitello and the Vols a season after they went 57-9 and were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

However, with the transfer portal taking hold in college sports, instances like these seem to have taken place more regularly, alleged or not.

With Tennessee off to a 3-2 start, it will be worth watching how this inquiry progresses and what it means for Vitello, Ahuna, and the program as a whole. Either way, it’s not a great look to already be dealing with just five games into the season.

Tennessee breaks record, Alabama A&M spirit with 23-1 beatdown in run-rule

For the second straight night, Tennessee baseball handled Alabama A&M via the new run-rule. The Vols capped Wednesday’s play at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a 23-1 score in favor of the Vols.

Tennessee (3-2) broke things wide open in the fifth inning, scoring a program-record 15 runs. Catcher Charlie Taylor, who totaled two hits in the frame, finished the outing a double shy of the cycle. However, he did launch a pair of long balls in the win.

In all, the Vols smashed their way to score 23 runs off 18 hits. They also took advantage of six errors in the field by the Bulldogs. Aaron Combs picked up the win on the mound.

Tennessee baseball will be back in action this Friday at 4:30 pm ET against Dayton.