A closer look at Vols' new 'Tennessee Classic' alternate uniform
Tennessee basketball honored its past with the new alternate uniform the Vols introduced Thursday afternoon. The off-white uniform, with ‘Vols’ in orange in a script font across the chest and orange trim on the jersey and shorts, will be worn against No. 10 Texas on Saturday in the Big 12-SEC Challenge at Thompson-Boling Arena.
No. 4 Tennessee and No. 10 Texas are scheduled for a 6 p.m. Eastern Time start on Saturday. The game will be televised by ESPN.
The uniform set was dubbed “Tennessee Classic” and was created by “drawing inspiration from all corners of Volunteer lore.”
“The Tennessee classic uniform celebrates the unique history of the UT brand,” Tennessee athletics wrote in a statement when the new looks was introduced. “Alongside prior introductions of the Smokey grey, Dark Mode and Summitt Legacy concepts, Tennessee Classic presents a fourth alternate for Tennessee’s athletic teams.”
Tennessee included a picture of Harry Anderson, the men’s basketball program’s first All-American, wearing a jersey with the same script Vols across the chest in 1936. The new uniform also added at the Tennessee Tri-State logo — the three stars inside a circle, from the Tennessee state flag, over the state of Tennessee — between the last name on the back of the jersey and the orange collar.
The Tri-State Logo is a new tertiary logo for Tennessee athletics, according to Thursday’s announcement.
The shorts on the new uniform includes an orange stripe and a Power T logo centered on the front of the belt line.
Tennessee basketball’s recent history with alternate uniforms
Tennessee’s last alternate uniform was a throwback in 2018-19 that would eventually become the standard uniform, both home and away. The first version was white, with Tennessee and Volunteers arched above and below the jersey number. A year later, during the 2019-20 season, the Vols added an orange version of the throwback jersey for road games.
The throwback was originally modeled after what Tennessee wore from the early 1970s into the ‘80s, with Tennessee printed in an arc above the number and Volunteers below. The program won SEC championships in 1971-72, 1976-77, 1978-79 and 1981-82 wearing a similar look.
Tennessee wore a grey alternate basketball uniform in 2016, featuring a dark stripe across the chest with Vols in orange block letters and orange trim. The look was designed by Nike to honor the 1911 and 1912 Tennessee teams that wore a grey uniform with a dark stripe across the top of the jersey.
The Vols in the past also wore jerseys with the script lettering across the chest, including 1936 and 1941.
There was an Adidas version of the grey alternate uniform debuted by Tennessee in March 2014 and worn in the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee’s basketball uniforms were redesigned before the 2015-16 season, after the school switched from Adidas to Nike as its official apparel dealer. The the new version of the Nike jersey for three seasons, including two with a ghosted ‘Power T’ on the back, behind the player name and number.
