Tennessee basketball standout John Fulkerson on Monday announced his intention to make a philanthropic gift to the Tennessee Fund following the Volunteers’ upcoming season based on the team’s offensive output.
The “super senior” from Kingsport, Tennessee, has pledged to donate $1 for every point the Vols score this season.
“My time as a Tennessee student-athlete has been life-changing and everything I could have asked for,” Fulkerson said. “This year, I’ve been very blessed to capitalize on some great NIL opportunities. And those opportunities would have never been possible without the amazing support I’ve received over the last five-plus years from so many people across the athletics department and campus.
“This is my way of giving back and saying, ‘thank you,’ for the incredible support I’ve received as a Tennessee student-athlete for all these years.”
During the last full season not impacted by the pandemic (2018-19), the Vols scored 3,035 points over 37 games. Tennessee scored 103 points in its lone exhibition game this preseason.
“I hope we lead the nation in scoring,” Fulkerson said. “I wanted to base my gift off something related to our team’s performance and not my own. Hopefully this will create another fun reason for Vol Nation to cheer for us to score a ton of points.”
Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said Fulkerson’s idea to give back to his school speaks to his character.
“This is the first instance I know of where a student-athlete proactively initiated a philanthropic gift to his or her school while they were still actively competing,” White said. “John’s a special guy who represents everything great about intercollegiate athletics and exemplifies the Volunteer Spirit.”
The 2021-22 season will be Fulkerson’s second full campaign competing as a college graduate, as he earned his degree in Recreation & Sport Management in May of 2020. He is on track to complete his master’s degree this spring.
A preseason All-SEC first-teamer, Fulkerson enters the season 11 appearances shy of breaking Tennessee’s all-time record for games played (142, held by Wayne Chism). He also is just 125 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career.
He has helped guide the Big Orange to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019.
Fulkerson and his teammates open the season Tuesday against UT Martin. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Season- and single-game tickets are available at AllVols.com.
-UT Athletics
