Tennessee basketball fan travels to Italy, ends up cooking with Vols

FLORENCE, Italy — Josh Hunt made it. He couldn’t believe it but he made it and was only 15 minutes late.

The McMinnville native took two flights and a train to get from Knoxville to Florence. But the automobile part of his planes, trains and automobiles plan failed him.

He turned to his legs and walked three miles from his hotel to the Palacoverciano to see Tennessee basketball play the Lithuanian U21 national team Friday.

“I am not a million dollar person but I am a million dollar fan,” Hunt said.

There’s no arguing that, after Hunt made the journey to see two Vols blowout wins against Lithuania on Friday and Saturday.

The trip married two of his biggest loves — travel and the Vols. The 31-year-old buyer at an auto company has been to more than 30 countries. He also has been to more than 100 Tennessee basketball games and 175 football games. So he packed a backpack and spent almost 19 hours traveling to get to Friday’s opener of Tennessee’s international tour.

“That is how much I love this team,” said Hunt, who graduated from UT in 2015 with a degree in supply chain management.

He walked into the gym Friday and joined a small crowd of Vols fans in the stands. It was mostly family members of the staff, along with a handful of fans who paid to go with the team.

He stood out in such an intimate setting and was immediately roped into the cheering section. One of the others in attendance insisted Hunt meet Vols coach Rick Barnes after the game. He took pictures with Barnes, who inquired about Hunt’s plans for the rest of his stay.

[ Mike Wilson, who covers Tennessee men's basketball for Knox News, is the only media member traveling with the Vols during their trip to Italy. Follow his daily coverage at knoxnews.com and in the News Sentinel. ]

He didn’t have any. Barnes invited Hunt to join the Vols at a pasta-cooking class Saturday morning.

Hunt stood across from Josiah-Jordan James while making pasta. He made jokes with Zakai Zeigler.

“I look up to these guys and to find out they were the real deal like that was really cool,” Hunt said. “I thought the world of this program to begin with. It has taken my expectations to new heights.”

Hunt pieced his trip together after UT announced its trip to Italy. He started his job two months ago, so vacation days were thin. He used two, taking Friday and Monday off. He got the address of the Florence arena by reaching out to UT. He looked up flights on Google and did the trip for a little more than $1,000.

He asked friends if they wanted to go, but no one did. He waited until the day before he left to tell his parents about his plan. It went better than he could have expected, seeing not only games but getting up-close time with the Vols.

Hunt left Florence on Saturday night to head north to Milan, then Lake Como for the day Sunday before departing that night. He will stop in Iceland for a layover, change airlines and head back to the United States. He will land in Baltimore and fly to Atlanta before renting a car to get back to Knoxville to finally complete the car portion of his journey.

It was all worth it, though, to live a dream for a weekend in Italy.

“This is such a unique setting,” Hunt said. "To be able to interact with the players, everyone has been so nice and wonderful.”

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it