Congrats, Hat. Hadn't heard your news.
On topic: give some details about your age, budget, area of town, and what you're looking for.
There are many good, and a few great, new places to eat around town. Market Square and Gay Street have been revived. There is now a Ruth's Chris and Fleming's in town. There are a number of good sushi options. Seafood is still lagging, but Bonefish in Turkey Creek is good, and I really enjoyed a recent meal at the old Chesapeake's. Ye Olde is a tradition. Turkey Creek is full of options, to meet any budget. Savelli's and Vinny and Me are good for Italian.
As for "hanging out," I can no longer answer for the "college crowd," but again, Market Square is cool, as is the DTGB and Sapphire on Gay. The Valarium is pulling in all kinds of cool shows, and the Tennessee Theater and the Bijou have been renovated and are great venues (Widespread recently played 3 consecutive nights). I haven't really found much to suit me in the Old City in a while, but some people dig the Urban Bar. Out west, you've got 4620 (Jazz), Baker Peters (good food and jazz), Irish Times, Bailey's, and Wild Wing Cafe. Not my style, but there are, of course, the two country bars, and Electric Cowboy has Knoxville's only "dueling piano" show.