Tennessee baseball pays tribute to late Vol reporter Wes Rucker
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The press box at Lindsey Nelson Stadium is missing a familiar presence this Friday. Tennessee baseball will be played, but things won’t be the same.
Ahead of Friday’s series opener between UT and Kent State, the program shared a photo of the press box. The seat of late beat reporter Wes Rucker has flowers mourning his passing, along with a photo.
Tennessee and Kent State begin a 3-game series Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET and is available to stream on SEC Network+.
You’ll always have a spot waiting for you here at Lindsey Nelson. pic.twitter.com/i0fM2VoSA4
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 20, 2026
Rucker spent more than 2 decades covering Tennessee athletics. He got his start as a student journalist with campus newspaper The Daily Beacon in 2000.
After The Beacon, Rucker freelanced with multiple publications before landing a full-time position with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. In 2011, Rucker joined 247Sports. He hosted the GoVols247 podcast as well as radio shows The Wes Rucker Show and Swain & Rucker. Most recently, Rucker was with WBIR, where he served as a columnist and host of the videocast 10 at 3 with Wes Rucker.
Rucker was the only fatality in a Thursday evening crash on I-40 near Cedar Bluff. Many tributes poured in from Rucker’s media peers and others who knew him, including Rick Barnes, have offered condolences.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
