Tony Vitello gives early impressions of transfer Maui Ahuna

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison10/05/22

dan_morrison96

Tennessee returns a baseball team with very high expectations after they came up short of returning to the College World Series in the 2022 season but won the SEC. To get there, coach Tony Vitello knows that he needs to reload the Volunteers roster. That includes bringing in transfers like Maui Ahuna.

Maui Ahuna is a shortstop who transferred from Kansas to Tennessee. He chose Tennessee over LSU, in large part because he wanted to go play for Tony Vitello.

While speaking to the media, Tony Vitello was asked about Maui Ahuna. In particular, did you know what he was capable of and how has it been watching him?

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“It’s been good because I think he likes to be challenged,” Tony Vitello said. “You know what you’re getting skill-wise, but you don’t know what you’re getting as far as the makeup of the kid entirely, and that goes for other guys too, that you recruit even when they’re in high school and they transition straight to our place. Because recruiting happens so fast now and so early, you don’t really get the time to do that.”

“It’s encouraging that he likes to be challenged from the coaches, and then also I think he wants to lead in his own way too. He’s made comments, he’s done certain things. I think the biggest thing for now is just getting him acclimated for what we think our style needs to be and what we think wins in our league, and making sure he’s not only on board with that, but he’s kind of being the epitome of it because that’s what Cortland (Lawson) was for us last year, and then the guys in front of him too. He’s the first one we’ve had here that’s kind of a big-name prospect or a Team USA guy, but the guys before him have done pretty dang well, and that’s becoming a fun spot to talk about on our campus as he gets to be the shortstop at Tennessee.”

Tony Vitello emphasized that this is how things are supposed to be at Tennessee. Ahuna could be the next great Tennessee shortstop.

“That’s the way it should be. I mean, Chris Burke, I could go on about tradition here when things were going well, but just in our league, you know, every year you see what happens in the draft. If you play shortstop in this league, you’re expected to be a lot and he’s certainly capable of being that, but we’ve got some work to do.”