Key Tennessee Volunteers baseball newcomer Maui Ahuna signs NIL deal with Weigel’s Stores
The first pitch for Tennessee’s 2023 season is Friday, and a key newcomer Volunteers’ baseball roster is starting the season off with a new NIL deal.
Weigel’s Stores announced on social media Thursday it’s signed infielder Maui Ahuna to a NIL agreement. The terms of the deal were not released. However, Ahuna was featured in a 30-second commercial decked out in a Tennessee white and orange style uniform. The uniform also featured Weigel’s name in a script font that mimics what the Volunteers wear.
“My name is Maui Ahuna, and I play baseball here at the University of Tennessee,” Ahuna says in the commercial. “And I’m proud to be working with Weigel’s.”
Weigel’s is a convenience store chain based in Powell, Tennessee, with 68 locations in the East Tennessee region. They also own and operate Broadacre Dairy, which processes milk, tea, juices, and eggnog for their convenience stores, as well as its own bakery, Red Barn Foods.
In another social media post, Weigel’s thanked their equipment managers for “leveling up our jersey game this year.”
“Maybe we can convince Tony V (Tony Vitello) to let the Vols play a game in the Weigel’s alternate unis,” Weigel’s shared.
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Maui Ahuna was a big addition for Tennessee, which enters the 2023 season as one of the top-ranked teams in the country. Ahuna arrived in Knoxville from Kansas via the Transfer Portal. His transfer generated national attention and many insiders believe it was fueled by NIL opportunities that would come from playing for one of the top programs in the country.
Ahuna, a shortstop, checks in at No. 22 on MLB Pipeline’s top draft prospects after starting every game as a freshman and sophomore in Lawrence. Batting .396 in 2022, he hit eight home runs, 48 RBI and 13 stolen bases while leading the ballclub in average, on-base percentage (.479), slugging percentage (.634), hits (80), triples (4), walks (28) and stolen bags. The new Volunteer spent his sophomore summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Tennessee opens season at MLB Desert Invitational
Tennessee’s 2023 campaign begins Friday at the MLB Desert Invitational at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Volunteers open with Arizona, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego in the invitational before returning home to host a series against Alabama A&M in Knoxville next week.
The Vols can be found at MLB.com for all three tilts, as well as on the MLB Network for Friday and Saturday showcases.
Vitello told On3’s Volquest that his 2023 team has already built a strong bond with each other.
“It’s kind of things that come organically out of the locker room and the weight room,” Vitello said. “It is starting to feel more like a team even more so than it did in Jackson, Tennessee, and then if you date back to September and even prior to that when we first played Wake Forest (in October). It didn’t seem like a team at all. That progression I think is at a certain point but by no means is kind of where it needs to be at the end and where it is going and what it was like with a couple of the other teams that we had.”