Tennessee Lady Vols Hire Harper

7,770 Views | 32 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by slimecap
Saddle Up!
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Kellie Harper, coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears, discussed in another thread, who made it to the Sweet 16 against Stanford. She's 41, a native of Tennessee, and won 3 NC's with the Lady Vols. 5 years at $750K/yr. Leading candidate to replace her is Jackie Stiles, who has been on her staff, and played for MSU.
bubbadog
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She was one of the names mentioned prominently for this job, but I still was a bit surprised. I thought they'd go after a bigger name, because they can't afford to get this hire wrong. Maybe she's the perfect choice for them. But I have to wonder if they're stuck in that mindset you see at so many schools where they're trying to maintain their old glory after the departure of a coaching legend. For a while, they always think they have to hire someone who played for/coached under the legend, and then after 2-3 hires they finally get it out of their system.
"Free your ass and your mind will follow." -- George Clinton
NOVA Bear
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I thought you said ...

EvilTroyAndAbed
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bubbadog said:

She was one of the names mentioned prominently for this job, but I still was a bit surprised. I thought they'd go after a bigger name, because they can't afford to get this hire wrong. Maybe she's the perfect choice for them. But I have to wonder if they're stuck in that mindset you see at so many schools where they're trying to maintain their old glory after the departure of a coaching legend. For a while, they always think they have to hire someone who played for/coached under the legend, and then after 2-3 hires they finally get it out of their system.
I think she's a great hire. Other than luring the Louisville HC, I don't know where else they go. Getting Missouri State to the Sweet 16? That's impressive. I think she'll bring some juice to that program.
bubbadog
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EvilTroyAndAbed said:

bubbadog said:

She was one of the names mentioned prominently for this job, but I still was a bit surprised. I thought they'd go after a bigger name, because they can't afford to get this hire wrong. Maybe she's the perfect choice for them. But I have to wonder if they're stuck in that mindset you see at so many schools where they're trying to maintain their old glory after the departure of a coaching legend. For a while, they always think they have to hire someone who played for/coached under the legend, and then after 2-3 hires they finally get it out of their system.
I think she's a great hire. Other than luring the Louisville HC, I don't know where else they go. Getting Missouri State to the Sweet 16? That's impressive. I think she'll bring some juice to that program.
First off: She might indeed be a great hire.

Jeff Walz would have been seen as a home run. For all I know, maybe they went after him and he turned them down.

Beat writer who covers the Lady Vols thinks she is a risky hire, and some of the fans on their board seem to agree.

https://www.volnation.com/forum/threads/john-adams-doesn't-hold-back.303917/
"Free your ass and your mind will follow." -- George Clinton
bubbadog
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Here was one mic-drop comment on another thread:

Same here... this program is just a little too much up it's own butt with nostalgia... where honoring the past and doing things a certain way is just as important as winning itself. This is a very unimpressive hire. Even with a small budget to work with (below $800K), Fulmer could have done better if he had been willing to hire outside of the "family".

https://www.volnation.com/forum/threads/kellie-harper-officially-announced-as-lady-vols-bb-coach.303901/
"Free your ass and your mind will follow." -- George Clinton
Saddle Up!
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Maybe the issue was just money.
Brian Ethridge
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Staff
UT is/was struggling paying off the Neyland improvements.
GrizBear
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Warlick was the risky hire. This was a good hire.
Meladee
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I think it's a good hire. Legacy.

She's doing good things at Missouri State. She's proven she can lead. Warlick was never a leader.

It's an uptick for their program.
xiledinok
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They should have hired Mark Morefield.
DanaDane
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Very marginal hire. She already struggled at P5 baskeball when at NC State. Mid major basketball is her ceiling. When Mulkey leaves I sure hope we don't fall into the trap of hiring coaches just because they were great players here instead of someone who is a better coach. There has always been such a low percentage of overall success across football, basketball and baseball for hires like that.
jdrs
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Good luck to her, but goodness what huge shoes to fill, Coach Summitt's, not Warlick's.
4th and Inches
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DanaDane said:

Very marginal hire. She already struggled at P5 baskeball when at NC State. Mid major basketball is her ceiling. When Mulkey leaves I sure hope we don't fall into the trap of hiring coaches just because they were great players here instead of someone who is a better coach. There has always been such a low percentage of overall success across football, basketball and baseball for hires like that.
i am gonna take the wait and see approach... she could do well since its easier to get kids to Tenn and has previous head coach experience. All i really care is they beat Aggie every year!
DFW
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Saddle Up! said:

Kellie Harper, coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears, discussed in another thread, who made it to the Sweet 16 against Stanford. She's 41, a native of Tennessee, and won 3 NC's with the Lady Vols. 5 years at $750K/yr. Leading candidate to replace her is Jackie Stiles, who has been on her staff, and played for MSU.
Never be the coach to follow a legend. Holly would have been aces anywhere else in WBB.
Pity the fool who follows Geno (it won't be Chris, she's too smart), and pity the fool who follows Kim.
It's a no win job.
slimecap
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All Lady Vols basketball signees on board with Kellie Harper

"Warlick and her staff recruited an impressive 2019 class, headlined by guard Jordan Horston the No. 2 prospect in the country, according to ESPN, and the McDonald's All-American Game MVP. Five-star center Tamari Key and four-star center Emily Saunders complete the class."

Link
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/womens-basketball/2019/04/11/tennessee-lady-vols-basketball-kellie-harper-jordan-horston/3425077002/
slimecap
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OUCH !!
May 22, 2019
Geno Auriemma during a coaches caravan stop Tuesday
"I never understood the big to-do about us playing Tennessee again. With all the teams we play and who we have played the last x-number of years, it just doesn't seem the same. Yeah, the name is the same, but nothing else is the same. It's almost like they're any other school now."

23 Jan 2020 Tennessee and UConn play in Connecticut ... their first meeting since 2007.

Link
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/womens-basketball/2019/05/22/uconn-geno-auriemma-lady-vols-evina-westbrook-tennessee-womens-basketball/3770623002/
willtalk
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DFW said:

Saddle Up! said:

Kellie Harper, coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears, discussed in another thread, who made it to the Sweet 16 against Stanford. She's 41, a native of Tennessee, and won 3 NC's with the Lady Vols. 5 years at $750K/yr. Leading candidate to replace her is Jackie Stiles, who has been on her staff, and played for MSU.
Never be the coach to follow a legend. Holly would have been aces anywhere else in WBB.
Pity the fool who follows Geno (it won't be Chris, she's too smart), and pity the fool who follows Kim.
It's a no win job.
Not necessarily! Holly's problem was not following a legend. She was mediocre at best coach. Pat herself started to recognize that her system ( especially offense ) had to be adjusted to fit the evolving WCBB landscape. Holly was a coach who was only suited to be an assistant for someone like Pat. She tried to maintain Pat's system without the personality to do so. She was the mother hen on Summits staff and tried to continue that role as head coach. When it didn't work for her she did a turnaround and began to blame everyone but herself for her failures. Pat's system was archaic but she kept it afloat via her personality, but even she knew she had to change. Holly had neither the flexibility or the intellect to do so.

Being a good assistant coach in a well run system does not always work. It can when you are able to repeat the process you have learned. The problem is that many early WCBB coaches were not really very good. They were successful only because they were competing against other bad coaches. There were a few really good ones and the stood out and rose to the top Geno, Tara, Kim, Pat, etc. Today there are many more good coaches and programs that raise the level of competition both on the court and in recruiting. Stringer is an example of a coach who would never last very long if she was just starting out. She made her rep via recruiting blue chip players who never played to their potential. You can admire her desire to make her program a system that helps a certain type of player, but as a basketball program,it would be a failure.

The level of coaching in Women's Basketball has risen because basically for two reasons. The game has evolved and there are more players who have the ability to coach coming out of the system than ever before. The level has also been raised by the influx of more men into coaching WCBB, because via title 9 the wages have also risen to make those jobs desirable for any good coach of either gender. You can't just hire any former player who graduated from your school anymore. There is too much competition in today's game to allow for nepotism.
atxtraveler
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I'll be able to provide a little more intel as my daughter will be attending Lady Vols camp next week in Knoxville. She currently plays for Coach Ashley Robinson here in DFW, and so I get to hear a lot of the LV Alumni gossip. Overall, I think this was a great hire. I hope to see Kellie lead this team back to the top 2-3 in WBB.
Pale Rider
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GrizBear said:

Warlick was the risky hire. This was a good hire.

Agree.
AirBear
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slimecap said:

OUCH !!
May 22, 2019
Geno Auriemma during a coaches caravan stop Tuesday
"I never understood the big to-do about us playing Tennessee again. With all the teams we play and who we have played the last x-number of years, it just doesn't seem the same. Yeah, the name is the same, but nothing else is the same. It's almost like they're any other school now."

23 Jan 2020 Tennessee and UConn play in Connecticut ... their first meeting since 2007.

Link
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/womens-basketball/2019/05/22/uconn-geno-auriemma-lady-vols-evina-westbrook-tennessee-womens-basketball/3770623002/

Muffet would say this bullying.

The rest of us would call this trash talking and chuckle.

Geno being Geno.
HustleBear
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GrizBear said:

Warlick was the risky hire. This was a good hire.
Yeah, for those who want Tennessee remain mediocre. It was a great hire!
bubbadog
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willtalk said:

DFW said:

Saddle Up! said:

Kellie Harper, coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears, discussed in another thread, who made it to the Sweet 16 against Stanford. She's 41, a native of Tennessee, and won 3 NC's with the Lady Vols. 5 years at $750K/yr. Leading candidate to replace her is Jackie Stiles, who has been on her staff, and played for MSU.
Never be the coach to follow a legend. Holly would have been aces anywhere else in WBB.
Pity the fool who follows Geno (it won't be Chris, she's too smart), and pity the fool who follows Kim.
It's a no win job.
Not necessarily! Holly's problem was not following a legend. She was mediocre at best coach. Pat herself started to recognize that her system ( especially offense ) had to be adjusted to fit the evolving WCBB landscape. Holly was a coach who was only suited to be an assistant for someone like Pat. She tried to maintain Pat's system without the personality to do so. She was the mother hen on Summits staff and tried to continue that role as head coach. When it didn't work for her she did a turnaround and began to blame everyone but herself for her failures. Pat's system was archaic but she kept it afloat via her personality, but even she knew she had to change. Holly had neither the flexibility or the intellect to do so.

I think part of the problem was the nature of the transition meant there was not a clean break. I saw the Lady Vols a few times during Pat's final year on the bench, and it was very sad. Even if you were just watching on TV you could tell that Pat wasn't all there, or even very much there. She wasn't engaged with the game; she didn't lead during timeouts. I'm sure some days were worse than others at that point, but Pat really wasn't capable of coaching. Holly was doing all the coaching out of necessity.

This put Tennessee in a very awkward position on two fronts. First, you can't really fire a legend like Pat without a huge backlash, even if her advancing dementia has made it impossible for her to really do her job. Second, you're in an awkward position if you fire the loyal assistant who basically took over the head coaching role for Pat. Just sends a bad signal.

Besides, it's only clear with the benefit of hindsight that Holly wasn't that great of a choice.

And let's be honest: Even before the announcement about Pat's dementia, the program had slid down a few notches. They weren't a Final Four contender every year as they had traditionally been. They were no longer at the same level as UConn, Baylor, ND, Louisville nationally or even South Carolina in their own conference.
"Free your ass and your mind will follow." -- George Clinton
slimecap
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Kelly Harper's first non-conference schedule as Tennessee head coach

Link
https://utsports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=385
atxtraveler
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Had the opportunity to meet Kellie this weekend with my 5th grade daughter. Pretty sure I can keep her in house at Baylor, but Kellie was a homerun hire for UT.

https://instagr.am/p/ByXtpPvBgau
slimecap
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Nov 11, 2019
whitetrash
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Tenn up 15 late 3rd. ND must be turrrrrrible. Did Muffy forget to recruit the last 3 years?
BuinmyBlood
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Rennia Davis is having a fantastic game for Tennessee. They look long, tall, and athletic. If this gal can coach as well as it appears she can, they could be really really good in the years to come. Needless to say, the cupboard wasn't exactly bare when the new coach arrived. They've still got plenty of great talent...
Chibears2
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Tennessee needs this win. Doesn't matter that ND has been gutted, it is still a marquee program. Hope will return to Lady Vol Nation, and that is good for women's basketball!

As for ND, they have a very good freshman in Sam Brunelle, but they are inexperienced and not as athletically gifted as previously. Going to see a lot of Muffet grabbing her forehead in frustration, I suspect....
jdrs
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Wow, just got home and turned the game on. Sure surprised to see Tenn up by 10 AT Notre Dame. Good for Tenn. Hope this means their program is on the way back up.
slimecap
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Nov 11, 2019
slimecap
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Tennessee Post-Game Press Conference
Nov 11, 2019

https://utsports.com/watch/?Archive=11847&type=Archive
slimecap
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slimecap
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Link
https://utsports.com/news/2020/6/23/womens-basketball-lady-vols-set-to-host-uconn-in-revival-series.aspx
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