Nashville's Ke'Shawn Vaughn featured on Athlon Sports' Vanderbilt football cover

Former Pearl-Cohn running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn made it easy on the editors at Nashville-based Athlon Sports when they sat down for their annual meeting to decide which player to feature on the cover of their 2019 college football preview magazine.

Athlon produces a cover for each of the schools in the SEC and Vaughn was a no-brainer for the Vanderbilt cover. A headline on the magazine cover calls Vaughn "The SEC's Unknown Superstar."

Vaughn, who transferred from Illinois, finished last season on a high note, rushing for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He led the SEC in yards per carry (7.9) and is the league's leading returning rusher.

"It was an easy decision to put Ke'Shawn Vaughn on our Vanderbilt cover — he's a Nashville native who is one of the best running backs in the SEC," Athlon Sports executive editor Mitchell Light said. "If he can stay healthy this season, I believe Ke'Shawn can emerge as one of top offensive players in the country."

Staying healthy is a key for Vaughn. He left the Tennessee game in the first quarter with a left arm and shoulder injury.

Not including the UT game, Vaughn averaged 181 rushing yards per game in his last four games — Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss and Baylor (Texas Bowl).

Vaughn made the 2018 Associated Press All-SEC second team.

Athlon has Vaughn on its preseason All-America second team. The magazine also listed him 42nd on its "Top 50 Players" pointing out that he led all Power 5 running backs with six carries for 60-plus yards in 2018.

Vaughn also is on the cover of "Lindy's Sports Southeastern Preview" magazine along with Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano.

Athlon Sports has Gaurantano on its Tennessee cover.

► More:Where Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Jared Pinkney, Kalija Lipscomb would've been picked in NFL draft

► More:Vanderbilt's Ke'Shawn Vaughn leaves with injury after reaching 1,000 yards

Vols, Memphis, Vandy in top 50

Athlon Sports ranked Tennessee, Memphis and Vanderbilt in its top 50, barely.

The Vols are 47th, Memphis 49th and Vandy 50th.

Middle Tennessee State is 97th in the 130-team ranking.

Alabama is first followed by Clemson, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State.

Tennessee is picked fifth in the SEC East (7-5 overall record, 3-5 SEC) and Vandy is last (5-7, 2-6).

MTSU is predicted to finish fourth in Conference USA East with a 6-6 overall record, 5-3 conference.

The magazine projects Tennessee will meet Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl and Memphis will meet West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl.

Miami (Fla.) and Kentucky are predicted to play in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium.

Derek Barnett named to SEC all-decade second team

Former Brentwood Academy defensive lineman Derek Barnett, who went on to play at Tennessee, was named to Lindy's SEC all-decade second team.

Barnett was a consensus All-American in 2016 and a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.

Vols all-purpose player Evan Berry (2014-17) also made the second team. 

Vanderbilt did not have a player on the first or second team. 

Nashville's Newgarden eyes first Indy 500 victory

Nashville resident Josef Newgarden sits atop the IndyCar points series standings heading into Sunday's Indy 500.

Newgarden, 28, was in town earlier this week to talk about how his strategy has evolved for the race since his career began in 2012.

He will start in the eighth position in the middle of Row 3.

"I don't think anyone needs to be aggressive whether you're in the back or you're in the front," Newgarden said. "This race is so long, it's 500 miles, no one should be aggressive right at the start. If you've got an opportunity to pass someone you should take it. But trying to be too ambitious and make up more ground than what you have presented to you, that over-ambitiousness is what gets you in trouble. And you don't want to get in trouble early for a 500-mile race."

Much of the race, Newgarden said, is spent jockeying for the last 50 laps.

"For us, we need to settle in," he said. "Eighth position is a good starting spot. We'll work through a couple of pit cycles and then see where we end up. It's really about positioning yourself for those last 50 laps. If you're in position, in the top five with 50 to go, you've got a shot at winning the race."

► More:This is the 2019 Indy 500 starting lineup

Mt. Juliet seventh-grader injured in stock car race 

Chase Johnson, 13, suffered a broken kneecap after wrecking his car recently at Huntsville (Ala.) Speedway. Johnson’s car was destroyed in the late model series race.

The injury will keep Johnson, who is wearing a brace on his leg, off the track until June.

He tried to run in the super truck series at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville on May 12 but was unable to. 

Johnson, a seventh-grader at Mt. Juliet Christian Academy, became the youngest point series champion in the history of the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville last year when he won the pro-modified division.

He won one race and finished second three times in the division.

Local attorney makes rare albatross in The Vinny

Franklin attorney Charles Ruttan made an albatross (two on a par 5) while playing in the 27th annual Vinny Invitational Monday at the Golf Club of Tennessee.

The Vinny is a celebrity-pro-amateur tournament sponsored by Vince Gill.  

Ruttan, legal counsel for Golf House Tennessee and a member of the Tennessee Golf Foundation board of directors, made the rare shot on the No. 5 hole from 219 yards out. He used a 3-wood.

The shot sailed about 190 yards in the air before rolling into the hole.

"It was my first time to see an albatross," said Dick Horton, who recently retired after serving more than 45 years as executive director of the Tennessee Section PGA and was playing with Ruttan. "They are way more rare than a hole-in-one."

Ruttan had set himself up for the shot with a nice lie in the middle of the fairway on the 565-yard hole. 

► More:Vince Gill, Brandt Snedeker, Rick Byrd in celebrity golf tournament

Ex-TSU star hired at Georgia Southern  

Former Hillwood High and Tennessee State basketball star Josh Cooperwood joined the Georgia Southern women's basketball coaching staff earlier this week.

It is Cooperwood's fourth job in four years.

He was on the staff at North Carolina Central (2016-17), Mississippi Valley State (2017-18) and Louisiana Monroe (2018-19).

Cooperwood made the All-Ohio Valley Conference team as a senior (2002-03) and spent three seasons on the women's basketball staff at TSU (2013-16).   

Tech's Strochschein wins third OVC player of the year award 

Tennessee Tech’s Kevin Strohschein became the second player to be named Ohio Valley Conference baseball player of the year three times. 

The other was Murray State pitcher George Dugan (1963-65).

Strohschein was the OVC freshman of the year in 2016. 

The senior outfielder finished his career ranked 10th in NCAA history in hits (362) and first in OVC history in hits, RBIs (247), home runs (62), doubles (74), total bases (642) and at-bats (1,009). He was second in runs scored (238) and games played/started (236).

Belmont's Maggard is OVC athlete of the year

Belmont senior point guard Darby Maggard was named the OVC female athlete of the year.

Maggard led the Bruins to a 26-7 overall record, 16-2 in the OVC and their third consecutive regular-season championship.

She averaged 17.0 points, 4.2 assists and made a total of 113 3-pointers, which ranked fifth nationally.

Murray State sophomore basketball standout Ja Morant was the male athlete of the year.

Joan Cronan to be inducted into hall of fame on June 8

Former Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on June 8 in Knoxville.

Cronan served as the Lady Vols athletic director from 1983-2012.

In 2005 she was named Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators and in 2016 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the group.

Cronan was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Former East Tennessee State star player Beth Bass (1981-84) will also be inducted along with Nora Lynn Finch, Ticha Penicheiro, Ruth Riley, Carolyn Bush Roddy and Valerie Still.

Lipscomb play-by-play announcer recovering from knee surgery

Lipscomb play-by-play announcer Jonathan Seamon, also known as the Babbling Bison, underwent revision surgery earlier this week for his knee replacement and was able to return home on Saturday.

Seamon’s sons Justin and Benjamin handled Lipscomb’s softball and baseball games while he was out. 

Martin's Neely's named conference's top SID

Martin Methodist's Wade Neely was named the 2019 Southern States Athletic Conference Sports Information Director of the Year.

Neely is in his seventh year as Martin's SID. Before that he worked part-time as the school's director of broadcasting and did radio play-by-play for the men and women's basketball games.

Sports on Nashville TV

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

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Our Memorial Day sale gives you unlimited access to the Tennessean for a low price