Grant Williams gifts Tennessee players with custom headphones before Italy trip
Tennessee basketball’s nine-hour flight to Italy on Monday will be a little bit easier thanks to Grant Williams. The former All-American power forward gifted the entire team custom headphones for the trip, complete with a Power T on the sides.
Williams and former Tennessee center Kyle Alexander were at Thompson-Boling Arena on Friday to watch the Vols practice, then spoke to the team after the workout.
“Use it to get better on the court,” Williams said, “but also use it to get closer (as a team). You’re gonna be over there, Barnes is going to be goofing around, but also he’s going to take it seriously. He’s gonna try to win every game. Go out there and try to have the same mentality you’re bringing to the court this upcoming season.
“Because y’all should be one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the whole country, not just the SEC. So take full advantage of it.”
"It's a great bonding experience, so take advantage of it"
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) July 28, 2023
Grant and Kyle dropping the knowledge ahead of our foreign tour 🇮🇹@Grant2Will @KyleJamal4 pic.twitter.com/e2IQkq0xzW
Tennessee will be in Italy for 10 days, touring the country and playing three exhibition games, scheduled for August 4, 5 and 7.
“I feel like when we made our big jump, we went overseas,” Alexander told the team. “That bonding experience is very different. You’ve got ten days, you’re in a different country, just you guys.
“Nobody else can understand what you’re saying, they’re speaking a different language. It’s a great bonding experience, so take advantage of that.”
When Tennessee players returned to the locker room Friday, they found custom, white Beats by Dre headphones in their locker stalls.
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The first two exhibition games will be played against the Lithuanian U21 National Team in Florence and the third will be against A.S. Stella Azzura in Rome. The trip starts in the Lake Como area, before Tennessee busses to Florence and later trains to Rome.
a little travel gift from @Grant2Will 🎧
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) July 29, 2023
custom Beats to help make Monday’s 9-hour flight to Italy a little shorter pic.twitter.com/AwWgneu8PG
Experiencing a different culture, Barnes said, helps set up his players for what could be next in their basketball careers.
“As you know, they all want to be professional basketball players,” he said. “Some of them have been to different countries. You can think about the guys we have had here that are playing overseas, I think it is a great time to get exposure to a different country and to people that will see them as well — realize there is a vast world out there. There are a lot of basketball opportunities around the world.”
Tennessee has had seven players selected in the NBA Draft during the Barnes era, with Julian Philips the most recent at No. 35 overall to the Chicago Bulls, selected early in the second round in last month’s draft.
But there’s far more to the professional basketball world than just the NBA.
“As much as I like them and they would like to play in the NBA, it is difficult,” Barnes said. “We have had some guys, I could name and sit here for an hour naming guys that have gone abroad and done extremely well.”
