Johnson remains day-to-day

The day after Glory Johnson suffered a left shoulder injury, the status of the Tennessee sophomore forward still was listed as day-to-day by Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine.

The team didn't practice Thursday, and Johnson spent the afternoon rehabbing. The team returns to the court today in preparation for Sunday's season opener against Baylor in the State Farm Tipoff Classic (TV: ESPN2, 5 p.m.) at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Format Change: The Classic has gone from a doubleheader format to a single game this season. Picking one location for the event is not in the works, at least not now.

"I think it's best for women's college basketball for it to move around,'' said John Althoff, State Farm's collegiate sports sponsorship coordinator. "We've had great success at a lot of different venues. ... You see all the excitement at these various schools. It's not just a Connecticut or Tennessee excitement."

The event is a fund-raiser for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, however. From that standpoint, certain sites stand out with Tennessee among them. When asked if any consideration had been given to finding a permanent home for the Classic, Carol Stiff, ESPN's senior director of programming, didn't rule it out for future consideration.

"It would be a decision that would be made by a few different parties, one being the Hall of Fame and State Farm and ESPN,'' she said. "We've gone to a one-game format from a doubleheader format. I think we just need to wait and see how things pan out before we make any decisions, but we'll look at everything from ratings, attendance, the game itself and make some decisions afterwards."

Hall of Famers: 2010 Inductees Leta Andrews, Teresa Edwards, Rebecca Lobo, Gloria Ray, Teresa Weatherspoon and Chris Weller will be introduced at halftime Sunday. Weatherspoon will be the only inductee not present. She's in her first year as coach at Louisiana Tech.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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