The men’s division of Tennessee track and field exceeded my expectations at the recent NCAA outdoor championships. The Vols finished third.

That fit history. Tennessee was once a power in the run-jump-throw sport. Chuck Rohe started it. Coach Stan Huntsman won the national championship in 1974. Doug Brown’s team won in 1991. Bill Webb did it in 2001.

Unfortunately, that era expired.

Improvement has been slow under Duane Ross. He made a really strong impact as coach at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University but has been bothered by staff turnover and athlete transfers at Tennessee. From a distance, it was unsettling.

His first UT team, 2023, tied for 22nd in the NCAA. The Vols shared 37th place in 2024. Last year, Tennessee moved up to 14th.

How about the jump to No.3? Better decisions? Better assistants? Normal progress with the foundation in place?

The Volunteers scored in nine events in the championship meet. A review of the roster led to at least part of an explanation. International athletes were factors in 35 of the 46 points.

Davonte Howell ran the second leg for the winning 4×100 relay team and placed fourth in the individual 100-meter dash. Davonte is from George Town, big city in the Cayman Islands.

JL Van Rensburg was second in the shot put. He is from Mossel Bay in South Africa. I don’t know him but I like him. He enjoys fishing, exploring the outdoors and eating great food. That’s my kind of guy. He says faith is a big part of his life.

Ismaila Sawaneh finished fourth in the NCAA pole vault. He is from Normandy, France.

Marc Anthony Ibrahim scored five points for fourth in the 400 hurdles, best national showing for a Volunteer in that event since 1983. He also anchored the 4×400 relay team that finished seventh (two points are two points).

Mark is a freshman from Mashghara, Lebanon.

I’m almost certain I saw the fingerprints of Daniel J. White, vice chancellor and director of athletics, on the improvement of the track team. Dr. White oversees sports budgets.

Duane Ross

White has said he wants all Tennessee sports to be competitive. He really wants the coaches he hires to succeed. I think he blessed Coach Ross with enough money to recruit the world.

The Olympics tell us that track and several other sports are truly world events. In pursuit of victory, is it logical for the University of Tennessee to spend what it takes to train athletes for other countries’ Olympic teams?

Twenty-five with UT ties performed for 17 other countries in the Paris Olympics. Indeed, athletes from around the world are developing while in orange and white.

There are two sides to this situation. Foreign athletes certainly contribute and enrich the diversity of Vol sports. Not so long ago, basketball guard Santiago Vescovi of Montevideo, Uruguay, was one of my favorite players.

Australian kicker Jackson Ross has been on the football team so long, he’s part of the family.

Manassanan Chotikabhukkana

Tennessee golfer Manassanan Chotikabhukkana earned a spotlight place on the 2026 SEC community service team. She has given of herself to make a difference in Knoxville and beyond. Big Brothers & Big Sisters was among the beneficiaries.

The senior is from Bangkok, Thailand. So is freshman golfer Kaopan Thapasit. Other golfers are from Oslo, Norway, San Sebastián, Spain and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Surprise, surprise, coach Diana Cantu is from Monterrey in Nuevo León, Mexico. The Wests have been there.

Tennessee’s international swimmers and divers are from Australia, Lithuania, Nigeria, Canada, Portugal and Brazil.

Several tennis Vols came from abroad – Paraguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Tunisia, Australia and Japan. I was a bit surprised to discover that Saray Yli-Piioari was born in Finland to Karita and Sami Yli-Piioari, professional ballroom dancers.

You are going to like Lady Vols assistant basketball coach Isoken Uzamere (pronounced eas-UH-ken ooh-ZAH-mer-ay). She is “Coach Eas” to those who do not speak Nigerian. She is a worker and a warrior.

“I’m from Edo State,” she says, “not that you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Row, row, row your boat – in English

Alas, I don’t know even that much about rowing coach Kim Cupini. I do know Tennessee won the Southeastern Conference title and finished third in the NCAA championships.

Only SEC rowing opponents are Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. Twenty-two schools compete at the national level.

A brief review of that roster turned into a shock. Thirty rowers are from other countries – 30!

Why is obvious. There aren’t many college rowing teams in the world and Tennessee has a great boathouse and a very convenient river.

Why 2 is because assistant coach MJ Keys is from Christchurch, New Zealand, and assistant coach Violette Legrand is from Saint-Germain-en-laye, France.

Rowing Lady Vols are from everywhere – of course New Zealand and France, plus Lithuania, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, England, Canada and probably other places I overlooked.

Some good people, too. If you are keeping score, Meg Flanagan of Blenheim, New Zealand, and Hannah Richardson of Mandurama, New South Wales, Australia, were recently recognized for academic excellence.

Now, back to the beginning, to the headline, coaching the world: Any problem with that? It’s just money – and maybe knocking that kid from Sevierville out of a scholarship.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com