Vanderbilt basketball's Jordan Wright in fast lane with Nashville Superspeedway internship

Vanderbilt basketball star Jordan Wright is keeping some fast company thanks to his summer internship.

Wright bounced from the court after finishing the season as the Commodores' second-leading scorer behind Scotty Pippen Jr. onto the track at Nashville Superspeedway, where he played a role in the second annual NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400.

His plan since arriving at Vanderbilt from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was to land an internship involving sports. But he thought it would likely be related to basketball, football or baseball.

He had to shift gears to go to work at a NASCAR track.

"There was a connection with my coach (Jerry Stackhouse) and the president of the Nashville Superspeedway (Erik Moses); they both went to North Carolina," Wright said. "In talking to Coach Stackhouse and our chief of staff Adell Harris, who used to coach at UNC Wilmington, they knew I wanted to do something in sports and they had talked to president Moses about an opportunity at the Superspeedway. It sounded pretty interesting, so here I am."

Moses was enrolled at North Carolina in 1992 when Stackhouse was recruited by legendary Tar Heels coach Dean Smith. One of Moses' fraternity brothers was Stackhouse's host on his official visit to Chapel Hill.

"They knew each other from high school, and Jerry and I had a lot of mutual friends," Moses said. "We have become friends since I moved to Nashville but we certainly knew each other before I moved here."

Stackhouse served as an honorary race official at the Ally 400.

Moses has gone full throttle with Wright's internship.

"A lot of what Jordan did at first was help us prepare for the race weekend," Moses said.

"That involved everything from getting our VIP list together and all of our credentials, to shadowing me during race weekend to seeing my interviews and discussions we had internally. Ultimately he played a big role in how to package what we were able to do this year compared to last year."

Wright has gone from having very little interest in NASCAR to being an avid race fan. He's found himself paying attention to the Sunday races since the Ally 400 and is sure he made the best choice for an internship that will help him with his double major in human and organizational development and communications as well as on the basketball court.

"Being in this environment has given me an opportunity to see if there are similarities between racing and basketball and I discovered there are a lot of them," Wright said. "Just seeing the leadership qualities president Moses has in running his organization and how they parallel to basketball."

Wright got to spend time with a couple of NASCAR Cup drivers — Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace — before the race. Elliott won the Ally 400 while Wallace went from being in contention to experiencing trouble with his pit crew and finishing out of the top 10.

"If president Moses hadn't told me it was Chase I would have never known it," Wright said. "He's just so laid back, so humble. He has a real quiet demeanor. We had a good conversation about the track and how he thought it was going to run. Bubba was kind of the same - just chilled and laid back. Both of them are really down-to-earth guys."

Wright's internship ends in early August before Vanderbilt heads to Europe for a 10-day tour that will include four exhibition games. Before that, however, he hopes to get to drive the Ally 400 pace car on the Superspeedway track.

"I am really looking forward to that," he said.

Eddie George will roast Ric Flair at the Fairgrounds

Tennessee State football coach and former Tennessee Titans All-Pro running back Eddie George has been added to the panel that will roast pro wrestling great Ric Flair.

Flair, 73, is set for his "final match" July 31 at Municipal Auditorium.

There will be lots of events leading up to the match, including the roast of the 16-time world heavyweight champion on July 29 at Nashville Fairgrounds.

"Let’s See If A Heisman Trophy Winner Can Handle The Fire! See You At The Roast @EddieGeorge2727! WOOOOO!," Flair tweeted after it was announced George would be on the panel.

Tie Domi, who set the record for most fights in NHL history, is also on the panel along with actor and retired pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page.

The rest of the panel will be announced soon.

Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson committed to the roast but has since backed out.

Belmont's Evan Bradds joins Utah Jazz staff

Former Belmont basketball standout Evan Bradds was hired as an assistant coach of the Utah Jazz.

The two-time Ohio Valley Conference player of the year had been with the Boston Celtics since 2017.

He began as an assistant coach with Boston's NBA G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, before earning a role on Brad Stevens' coaching staff.

His most recent position was player enhancement coach.

Bradds is Belmont's NCAA Division I era career scoring leader with 1,921 points. He ranks sixth all-time in NCAA Division I career field goal percentage (.667).

MTSU tight end great Mike Clark dies at 58

Mike Clark, one of the top tight ends to ever play for Middle Tennessee State, died Tuesday after battling cancer. He was 58.

Clark was an Associated Press all-state defensive end at Greenbrier in 1982. He signed with MTSU to play linebacker but came out of spring practice in 1983 as the Blue Raiders' starting tight end.

In 1984 he made the All-OVC team after having 19 catches for 251 yards and two touchdowns and helping lead MTSU to an 11-3 record and the semifinals of the FCS (then Division I-AA) playoffs.

Clark had two catches for 84 yards including a 25-yard touchdown in the Blue Raiders' 42-41 triple overtime quarterfinal win at Indiana State.

Clark also was an all-region basketball player in high school who scored the most career points at Greenbrier. He is in the Greenbrier Sports Hall of Fame.

After graduating from MTSU Clark spent 26 years as a Metro Police officer.

Former local standouts will be at OVC Football Media Day

Four former local high school standouts – Jeremiah Oatsvall (Brentwood Academy), Devon Starling (Cane Ridge), John H. Ford (Overton) and Colton Dowell (Wilson Central) - will be among the athletes at the OVC Football Media Day on July 19.

The event will be at Franklin Marriott Cool Springs.

Oatsvall is a Tennessee Tech quarterback who began his career at Austin Peay and then spent one season at Memphis. He will be joined by Tech defensive back Josh Reliford and coach Dewayne Alexander.

Starling, a TSU running back, rushed for a total of 1,448 yards and six touchdowns in his first two seasons. Linebacker James Green and George will join him.

Ford is a linebacker and Dowell is a wide receiver at UT Martin. Ford made the All-OVC first team last year after recording 88 tackles and Dowell made the second team even after missing the last seven games with an injury.

Mark McGee inducted into sports writer hall of fame

Former Nashville Banner sports writer Mark McGee was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame Thursday.

McGee, a Shelbyville native, covered Vanderbilt, the Nashville Predators, Nashville Sounds and Tennessee Titans in his 13 years at the Nashville Banner. He later became sports information director at Lipscomb.

Former Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Dan Fleser and Chattanooga Times sports writer Chris Dortch, now the publisher of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, were also in the class.

TSU QB Draylen Ellis makes preseason All-OVC team

TSU placed six players on The Bluebloods Preseason All-OVC Football Team, including one who has never played for the Tigers.

Quarterback Draylen Ellis made the team after transferring from Austin Peay, where he played two seasons. Ellis was the OVC co-freshman of the year in 2020 and All-OVC second team in 2021. He threw for 3,895 yards and 33 touchdowns in two seasons at Austin Peay.

Green is also on the team along with TSU offensive lineman Robert Lacey, defensive linemen Terrell Allen and Terray Jones and return specialist Dayron Johnson.

Josh Reliford also made the team.

Austin Peay has moved to the Atlantic Sun Conference and had three players make that preseason all-conference team, including running back Josh Samuel, wide receiver Drae McCray and punter Matt Rigney.

MTSU sports town hall features local media personalities

MTSU will host a True Blue Town Hall starting at 6:30 p.m. July 20 at The Listening Room on 4th Ave. South.

The Town Hall will feature local sports media personalities Joe Dubin, Jonathan Hutton and Chase McCabe discussing Blue Raiders football along with NIL, the transfer portal and other topics. Voice of the Blue Raiders Chip Walters will be the moderator.

A meal will be served. To attend RSVP to mtalumni.com/blitz.

The Blue Raider Blitz will also make a stop at the location that day from 6-8 p.m.

Cumberland football field set for renovations

Major renovations are under way on Cumberland’s Nokes-Lasater Field.

Upgrades on the historic field include new artificial turf, a jumbotron scoreboard, sidewalks, play clocks and more.

"The project will not only enhance the ability of our teams to recruit exceptional student-athletes, but also extend the hours of operation for our high-demand field space,” athletics director Ron Pavan said. “This has been something I have worked to accomplish for a long time and I'm excited to see it finally come to fruition."

The turf will be multi-purposeful and lined with football, soccer and lacrosse markings

The jumbotron video scoreboard will be located on the south side of the stadium. New play clocks will also be installed.

The track at the stadium will be removed and replaced by sidewalks and new fencing.

Diana Ly leaves Vanderbilt

Diana Ly left the Vanderbilt athletic communications department Wednesday to accept a position as assistant director of communications at Oklahoma.

Ly, who previously worked for NBC Sports and The Golf Channel, spent seven months at Vanderbilt.

She worked primarily with women’s basketball, women’s golf, men’s tennis, cross country and track and field.

Rick Byrd receives Lapchick award

Retired Belmont basketball coach Rick Byrd was one of four recipients of the 2022 Joe Lapchick Character Award.

The award honors individuals who demonstrated honorable character throughout their career much like legendary coach Joe Lapchick.

The other recipients were Leonard Hamilton, who began his coaching career as an Austin Peay assistant, Speedy Morris and Val Ackerman.

The group will be honored on Sept. 16 at the New York Athletic Club.

Columbia State AD retiring

Johnny Littrell will retire as Columbia State’s athletic director on Aug. 31.

Littrell, 65, has been the school’s AD since 2016, when he replaced Louis Conner.

He arrived at the school in 2001 as the softball coach.

Riley Gaines nominated for top NCAA honor

Former Station Camp swimmer Riley Gaines just finished her college career at Kentucky and has been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Gaines was an All-American who owns three SEC titles and set two SEC records and spent two seasons as the Wildcats captain.

The top 30 honorees will be recognized, and the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced this fall.

MTSU baseball hall of famer Danny Moore dies at 67

Former MTSU baseball player Danny Moore, the only Blue Raider to have his number (2) retired, died Wednesday. He was 67 and battled cancer.

Moore was a center fielder who posted a .351 career batting average (1976-77).

At the end of his career Moore owned the school record for single-season stolen bases (26 in 1976) and career stolen bases (37).

He helped lead MTSU to its first NCAA Regional berth in 1976 after winning the OVC with a 35-17 record.

Moore was a two-time All-OVC first team member and was inducted into the Blue Raider Hall of Fame in 2009.

Sophie Linder wins Tennessee Junior Amateur

Sophie Linder from Gordonsville won the Tennessee Golf Association Junior Amateur Girls Tournament at Henry Horton.

Linder, 17, the three-time TSSAA small-school state champion and Tennessean girls golfer of the year, shot a 6-over 216. Molly Hardwick from Nashville finished second at 9-over, and Emily Wilson from Brentwood tied for third at 11-over.

In the boys tournament, Michael Hake (5-under) from Brentwood finished tied for third while Tommy Frist and Blades Brown (4-under) from Nashville tied for fifth.

Sheldon McKnight from Ooltewah won the boys tournament with an 11-under 205, and Cooper Solberg from Memphis was second at 7-under.

Brentwood 10th in national golf tournament

Brentwood High golfer Sam Johnson finished tied for 26th with seven others in the National High School Golf Invitational at Pinehurst (North Carolina) Resort.

Johnson shot a 5-over 74-74-76 224. A total of 327 golfers were in the field.

Johnson helped Brentwood finish 10th out of 53 teams.

Other Brentwood golfers included Grant Clunan (19-over), Nolan Griggs (22-over), Bryce Callaway (25-over), Jacob Purifoy (25-over) and Troup Wallace (26-over).

Playmakers camp coming to TSU

The One Basketball Camp is July 26 at TSU's Gentry Center.

The 9 a.m.-4 p.m. camp is for boys and girls in grades 4-8.

Instructors include Ron Slay, Corey Allen, Jamal Richardson,  Marcus Kinzer, Adrian Williamson, Jeremiah Crutcher and Michael Claybrooks.

Free school supplies will be provided along with lunch, skill work and 5-of-5 games

Register by calling 615-946-0444 or at nationalplaymakersacademy.com.

Stefan King joins Tennessee Tech hoops staff

Stefan King has joined the Tennessee Tech men's basketball staff as director of basketball operations.

King spent the past three seasons as a graduate assistant at the University of Mobile.

Before that he was an assistant coach at Luverne (Alabama) High.

King attended Troy (2016-18), where he worked in the athletics ticket office.

Bo Roberts will sign his book on Aug. 9

Local author Bo Roberts will sign his book "Forever Young; The Youngest as a World's Fair president, editor, governor's cabinet leader & university vice president," at Jimmy Kelly's Steakhouse on Aug. 9 from 5-7 p.m.

Roberts, a University of Tennessee graduate, is a longtime member of the Nashville Sports Council and currently serves on the executive committee.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MIkeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball: Jordan Wright intern at Nashville Superspeedway