Lady Vols basketball is getting a fresh uniform look this season, and with Tennessee’s move back to Adidas, there’s also a first for the program: sponsored jersey patches.
That change sparked one obvious question when the new mock-ups surfaced. The Pat Summitt patch wasn’t there.
It turns out there’s no reason to read too much into that. A Tennessee spokesperson told Knox News on Aug. 20 that the Lady Vols will still wear the Pat Summitt patch on their Adidas jerseys.
The circular patch carries the Pat Summitt Foundation logo and has usually sat above the SEC patch on the chest. In the early jersey reveals, though, it was absent from the women’s basketball designs. The Adidas setup leaves room on the right side of the chest for the sponsored patch, where the Nike swoosh had been on the old uniforms, while the Adidas three stripes logo now sits in the center.
Tennessee announced the new corporate-sponsored patches on Aug. 18.
The sponsor is Axle Logistics, a shipping and transportation company founded in Knoxville by two Tennessee alums. According to a source who spoke to Knox News, the deal runs through the 2030-31 season and is worth more than $3 million per year.
The patch agreement covers only men’s and women’s basketball. The Lady Vols are set to debut the new jerseys in an exhibition game against Florida A&M on Oct. 27.
“We are grateful to Axle Logistics for its incredible commitment to Tennessee basketball and for the impact this partnership will have on current and future Lady Vols,” Kim Caldwell said in a school release. “I’m also thankful for the vision of Danny White and the Vol Network in uniting us with an innovative, locally-based company built by UT alums who operate with the same core principles we do.”
In Other News...
Furman Just Added An Unexpected Week 1 Wrinkle For Tennessee
Furman added a little intrigue to Tennessees Week 1 prep by naming Jake Garcia its starting quarterback for the opener. Garcia brings a rsum that stands out for a matchup in which the Volunteers are expected to control things, since he arrived as a highly rated high school recruit and has already moved through multiple programs while gaining experience at the Power Five level.
For Tennessee, the headline still points to a game it should be favored to win, but Garcia gives Furman a quarterback with enough background to make the first weekend a little less routine. Even in a matchup that looks straightforward on paper, an experienced passer can force a defense to stay sharp early and prevent any sense of warm-up mode from creeping in. [Read more 🡒]
Jaxson Mois Tennessee Return Suddenly Feels More Real Than Expected
Jaxson Mois path back to Tennessee has gone from theoretical to at least plausible in a hurry. The former defensive lineman went undrafted and signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a UDFA, but a recent court ruling opened the door for 16 football players, including some in NFL training camps, to return to college sports this season if their pro situations change.
For Tennessee, the bigger question is not just whether Moi becomes available, but whether the fit actually lines up on both sides. It remains unclear if he would want to come back to Knoxville, and the Vols would still need to have a place for him on the roster before anything could move forward. [Read more 🡒]