Tennessee's matchup with Georgia Southern on Tuesday will be unique for one of the members of the Vols' staff.

Assistant coach Gregg Polinsky spent four years as the Eagles' head coach from 1995-1999.

Now, with no hard feelings, Polinsky is welcoming his former program to his new home in Knoxville.

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While serving as the head coach for Georgia Southern, Polinsky went 34-76 during his tenure. This included a three-win season in his first year at the top of the program.

"It was exciting," said Polinsky. "I did enjoy my time, other than the losses, when I was coaching at Georgia Southern. It was a great experience for me. Still have relationships, close friends, players - one was here for the last game - that I stay in touch with."

Following his stretch in Statesboro, Polinsky went on to spend time in the NBA. Over his more than 20 year career there, he was on the staff of the Nets and Pistons.

Now, he is back in the college game and willing to share anything he can with the people around him.

"I think the opportunity to then to take what I learned along my path of 23 years working in the NBA, and I've said this before, what value can I add to this program," said Polinsky. "That's how we should all view this. As people, coaches, etcetera, whatever you're doing. Time has taught me that, it's really not about me, it's about us. So, it's exciting for me to come back and lend whatever experience I can to the guys and the people we have here. Whether its coaches, players, managers, whatever I can do, it's exciting. And believe me, I don't take myself that serious. I take what I do serious, but I don't take myself that serious."

Following his NBA career, Polinsky joined Tennessee as a volunteer analyst. However, since 2022, he has been promoted to the full time staff as an assistant coach.

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While he has only been with the team since 2021, he hasn't taken his time in Knoxville for granted.

"I think the NBA got tired of me," said Polinsky. "My parachute opened again. Coming here to Tennessee has been unbelievable. It's been a privilege. I've said that before but its genuine. It's not just for here, the media. It's been a privilege to be in this program. The whole thing, I could go through it."

With his former program coming to town, Polinsky has fittingly been assigned the lead on the scout. The Eagles bring to town a struggling program, though, that sits at 0-9.

This means that Polinsky needs to make sure the team also wakes up for a game against one of the weaker opponents the Vols will face this year.

"I think you've got to be real with them and understand if we're talking about Georgia Southern at 0-9, they've also played every game but one away from home," said Polinsky. "I've been in that situation, literally, and that's a very difficult thing to do with your basketball team. They've been in games, they just haven't been able to get over the hump. They've got a few talented guys, but I think for our basketball team, what we talk about and coach (Rick Barnes) talks about this whether its them, Illinois, Purdue, we've got to be who we are, play to our identity and improve."

Tip-off on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. ET and will air on SECN.

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