Who would you talk to and what would you like to know?

[aurabass]

As for Kyra, wasn't the story that she did not fulfill her responsibilities on the recruiting side, which was supposed to be a big part of her job? Recruiting took off once she was replaced. There are a lot of good reasons to fault Holly but I am not sure that these situations fall in that category.

Kyra was indeed assistant coach for wings and recruiting coordinator.
Evidently, she was doing enough of a great job to be promoted to ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH announced Oct 2, 2015 after 4 years on staff. Elzy was credited with recruiting Russell, Reynolds, and Nared from Oregon along with Carter, Cooper, Dunbar, Middleton, and Jackson etc. in her 4 years as head recruiter.
If she was failing at it why the promotion and raise 10 months prior to her departure for KY?

The 2016-17 Roster when Elzy returned to KY.
0 Jordan Reynolds G 5-11 Sr. Portland, Ore.
4 Schaquilla Nunn F 6-3 R-Sr. Fayetteville, Ga
5 Kamera Harris C 6-3 Fr. Hampton, Ga.
10 Meme Jackson G/F 5-11 So. Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11 Diamond DeShields G 6-1 R-Jr. Norcross, Ga.
13 Kortney Dunbar F 6-2 Jr. Edwardsville, Ill.
15 Cheridene Green F 6-3 Jr. London, England
20 Te'a Cooper G 5-8 So. Powder Springs, Ga.
21 Mercedes Russell C 6-6 R-Jr. Springfield, Ore.
31 Jaime Nared G/F 6-2 Jr. Portland, Ore.
33 Alexa Middleton G 5-9 Jr. Murfreesboro, Tenn.

When Evina Westbrook signed Nov 10 2016 her interest was spawned by Nared, Russell and Reynolds from Oregon
Middleton & Jackson from Murfreesboro were entries to Anastasia Hayes
Any freshmen in 2017 -18 were initially contacted by Elzy's recruiting efforts - these are all extended efforts over years.

So what exactly "took off" when Elzy left? Zaay , Jasmine, Rae and Mimi?
Is that class more exceptional than classes Elzy brought with Mercedes, Jordan, Jamie, Ariel, Izzy, Bash, Draya, Cierra, and Jasmine?

I think the dismissal of T'ea resulting in the loss of Diamond was building prior to Elzy's decision to depart.
The losses of Middleton and Hayes are equally regrettable and puzzling
What is Kyra's insight into those situations? That's what I would like to know.

I wonder if Kyra might not be one potential answer to the coaching situation. Elzy was instrumental to Kentucky's rise in the SEC
KYRA ELZY'S BIO is revealing
Elzy was instrumental in Kentucky's rise in the SEC and her recruits at UK and UT have been excellent.
As Associate Head Coach at both schools, she has considerable experience and as a player, she was part of 2 NCAA Championships.

 

[bobkitten]

Several of those you mention who have served as commentators during the games, as well as a few not mentioned, have had clear insights on the problems with the last half dozen teams. However, I think most would be circumspect about what they would say re Holly.

 

[munsterlander]

And yet you persist in extending the life of this thread with ad hominem attacks?

Irony. You should read up on it. This seems like a battle of wits with an unarmed person. (And not one that I sought. It's a message board, I pretty gently expressed a different opinion, and you got your loquacious and apparently snowflake panties in a twist.)

But you are funny as heck.

So sorry I cannot assist you with your fundamental misunderstanding concerning the nature of gossip vs essential inside information from people intimately involved with the team and coaching dynamics.

Yeah, right - it's ESSENTIAL inside info, 'cause you really, really really want to know it. And discussions on sports conversation boards aren't largely gossip.

 

[aurabass]

Irony. You should read up on it. This seems like a battle of wits with an unarmed person....... and you got your loquacious and apparently snowflake panties in a twist. But you are funny as heck.

So you have now devolved from put-downs - "Reading comprehension is definitely not your strong suit." to an attempt to compare intellectual capacity " a battle of wits with an unarmed person" and then this bizarre shift to some lame attempt at exposing your idea of homophobic humor? An extremely odd shift given this forum's purpose regarding women in sports.
Are you truly so invested in these attacks that you cannot simply leave those of us interested in this speculation alone?

Well, at least I learned what Volfan2012 understands about the situation - which was new to me - and exactly what I hoped to learn.
Why that has caused you such discomfort remains a mystery. But please continue - it will be interesting to see what kind of weird twist you try next.

 

[madtownvol]

Kyra was indeed assistant coach for wings and recruiting coordinator.
Evidently, she was doing enough of a great job to be promoted to ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH announced Oct 2, 2015 after 4 years on staff. Elzy was credited with recruiting Russell, Reynolds, and Nared from Oregon along with Carter, Cooper, Dunbar, Middleton, and Jackson etc. in her 4 years as head recruiter.
If she was failing at it why the promotion and raise 10 months prior to her departure for KY?

The 2016-17 Roster when Elzy returned to KY.
0 Jordan Reynolds G 5-11 Sr. Portland, Ore.
4 Schaquilla Nunn F 6-3 R-Sr. Fayetteville, Ga
5 Kamera Harris C 6-3 Fr. Hampton, Ga.
10 Meme Jackson G/F 5-11 So. Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11 Diamond DeShields G 6-1 R-Jr. Norcross, Ga.
13 Kortney Dunbar F 6-2 Jr. Edwardsville, Ill.
15 Cheridene Green F 6-3 Jr. London, England
20 Te'a Cooper G 5-8 So. Powder Springs, Ga.
21 Mercedes Russell C 6-6 R-Jr. Springfield, Ore.
31 Jaime Nared G/F 6-2 Jr. Portland, Ore.
33 Alexa Middleton G 5-9 Jr. Murfreesboro, Tenn.

When Evina Westbrook signed Nov 10 2016 her interest was spawned by Nared, Russell and Reynolds from Oregon
Middleton & Jackson from Murfreesboro were entries to Anastasia Hayes
Any freshmen in 2017 -18 were initially contacted by Elzy's recruiting efforts - these are all extended efforts over years.

So what exactly "took off" when Elzy left? Zaay , Jasmine, Rae and Mimi?
Is that class more exceptional than classes Elzy brought with Mercedes, Jordan, Jamie, Ariel, Izzy, Bash, Draya, Cierra, and Jasmine?

I think the dismissal of T'ea resulting in the loss of Diamond was building prior to Elzy's decision to depart.
The losses of Middleton and Hayes are equally regrettable and puzzling
What is Kyra's insight into those situations? That's what I would like to know.

I wonder if Kyra might not be one potential answer to the coaching situation. Elzy was instrumental to Kentucky's rise in the SEC
KYRA ELZY'S BIO is revealing
Elzy was instrumental in Kentucky's rise in the SEC and her recruits at UK and UT have been excellent.
As Associate Head Coach at both schools, she has considerable experience and as a player, she was part of 2 NCAA Championships.

Easy Aurabass. You don't need to bring the dogs. I was merely reporting what had been the coverage from when UT and Elzy parted ways. From a Tennessean story:

Tennessee went 22-14 this season, finishing with the most losses for a season in program history and falling out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in 31 years. Reaching the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament restored Tennessee to the final USA Today coaches' poll Wednesday at No. 19.
Furthermore, the Lady Vols did not sign any recruits to national letters of intent during the fall signing period. They're hoping to add at least one player this spring. Kamera Harris, a 6-foot-3 post player from Hampton, Ga., is scheduled to visit April 15-17.

So this season, in particular, are when the program hit the skids. It looks like Elzy may have been made a scapegoat. On recruiting, you are forgetting Davis, Wesbrook, Hayes, and KK, plus Zaay, and the rest of this years class. Time will tell but I think that is a talented group, And I meant, recruiting took off from the Kamara harris signing, which if we are honest, was a bit of desperation stop gap.

Peace,

 

[LurkerExposed]

I’d like to talk to most of the same people the OP does, but to my list I’d add:

Tyler Summitt
Pat Summitt’s siblings
Joan Cronin
Kellie Jolly Harper
Abby Conklin’s dad
Candace Parker’s mom

There is an interesting connection between Tennessee's and South Carolina's women's basketball programs that's bridged by Cronan. As most Lady Vols fans here probably know, The UT WBB program began in the early 1900s as a recreational activity, then went dormant as a recognized university sport from 1926 to 1960. Then Nancy Lay was the first Lady Vols head coach when the program was rebooted, and coached from 1960 through 1968.

Joan Cronan then took over for the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons, compiling a 8-10 overall record. Margaret Hutson would replace her as head coach in 1970, and then hire a young lady as a graduate assistant by the name of Pat Head. Hutson would build the fledgling Lady Vol program into a winning program: then before the 1974 season, Hutson would resign her position to pursue a doctorate degree, and Head took her place at the helm of the program, and the rest was history.

But what became of Joan Cronan? She would move to South Carolina and accept the head coach job of the WBB program at the College of Charleston. In 1973, Cronan hires a young lady as an assistant coach name Nancy Wilson. In 1976 Wilson would succeed Cronan as the Head Coach, as Cronan chose to take on the position of Director of Women's Athletics at CoC.

Wilson would build the Cougars' program, then a AIAW Division II program, into a perennial power in the division, reaching the AIAW Div. II national championship game three consecutive times from 1979-80 through 1981-82, failing to win each time.

After compiling a 193-64 record in eight seasons at College of Charleston, Wilson would accept the Head Coach position at South Carolina in 1984, replacing the fired Terry Kelly. Wilson would see immediate success at USC during their years as a member of the Metro Conference, winning five conference regular season titles, three conf. tournament titles, and appearing in five NCAA tournaments in seven years as a member of the Metro, but once USC joined the SEC her teams struggled quite a bit more. Eventually Wilson would resign from USC after 13 years to coach in the ABL. Her career record at USC of 231-149 was good enough to make her the winning-est head coach in the program's history, and was just recently surpassed by Dawn Staley in December of last season.

Wilson would eventually return to coach at College of Charleston for a second stint, and ultimately compiled a total career record of 311-216 there, and a total overall record of 542-365 as a head coach. Before Staley overtook her as the winning-est head coach at USC, Wilson held the distinction for both College of Charleston and South Carolina programs simultaneously.

Joan Cronan would leave the College of Charleston AD position in 1983, a year before Wilson left for USC, and took the same position at Tennessee where she held it for over 25 years....

 

[vol24/7/365]

I’d like to talk to most of the same people the OP does, but to my list I’d add:

Tyler Summitt
Pat Summitt’s siblings
Joan Cronin
Kellie Jolly Harper
Abby Conklin’s dad
Candace Parker’s mom

Kara Lawson what does she think?
Mickey Demoss does she think Holly has it? (We all know she doesn’t but would just like to know her take on holly)

 

[vol24/7/365]

Totally Agree. Holly thought she was hostile from what I hear. I agree she was trying to make the team better.

I agree and you will never have a winning team by being soft

 

[aurabass]

Easy Aurabass. You don't need to bring the dogs. I was merely reporting what had been the coverage from when UT and Elzy parted ways. From a Tennessean story:
So this season, in particular, are when the program hit the skids. It looks like Elzy may have been made a scapegoat. On recruiting, you are forgetting Davis, Westbrook, Hayes, and KK, plus Zaay, and the rest of this years class. Time will tell but I think that is a talented group, And I meant, recruiting took off from the Kamara harris signing, which if we are honest, was a bit of desperation stop gap. Peace,

Sorry Madtown, it was not my intention to convey any malicious intent. I was removed from the loop - resigned from 247/Scout - stopped my Lady Vols Weblog - and quit paying any attention due to complete disgust with the program's direction by that time.
I am very curious about what transpired.
My conjecture runs something like this: I can see Kyra growing consistently disgusted with Holly's coaching and despite being promoted to Associate Head Coach her disillusionment continued to grow to the point of open confrontation.
Coach Mitchell at KY was happy to have her back and she departed for the Associate Head Coach position she now holds in Lexington. That makes it difficult to believe any failure as a recruiter had much to do with it.
I did not forget Westbrook, Hayes, or the other players now freshmen and sophomores on the current roster. I assume Krya's work in Oregon over the previous years led to Westbrook's decision - and players like Middleton & Jackson along with Bash were part of Hayes signing.
Elzy has been known as an accomplished recruiter for a decade now.
What happened in the year you mentioned? Did Kyra loose faith to the point she could not sell a product in which she no longer believed?
Who refused her entreaties to sign and why?
Yes the players now performing at Vandy are excellent prospects. Some 7 of them are Micky D AA's, but they have recorded records this year that nobody wishes to own. Can they improve and recover? Possibly - but the track record of Holly's coaching is not encouraging in that regard. Hard to name a single player in the past 7 years that improved with time.

 

[munsterlander]

So you have now devolved from put-downs - "Reading comprehension is definitely not your strong suit." to an attempt to compare intellectual capacity " a battle of wits with an unarmed person" and then this bizarre shift to some lame attempt at exposing your idea of homophobic humor? An extremely odd shift given this forum's purpose regarding women in sports.
Are you truly so invested in these attacks that you cannot simply leave those of us interested in this speculation alone?

Well, at least I learned what Volfan2012 understands about the situation - which was new to me - and exactly what I hoped to learn.
Why that has caused you such discomfort remains a mystery. But please continue - it will be interesting to see what kind of weird twist you try next.

The first "put-down" came from you. And the second. You just couldn't stand somebody disagreeing with your original premise. Just a suggestion, but to avoid put-downs, it would be helpful to stop being an *** and making yourself such an easy target.

No idea what you thought was a bizarre shift to homophobic humor, maybe you need a dictionary? Loquacious is not part of the female anatomy.

But here's the bottom line. You want to know all kinds of inside stuff (aka gossip) about why CHW is failing miserably. That's human nature, I get it. I simply said I'd rather not see all of CHW's coaching dirty laundry aired - it leads to piling on and increases negativity in an already bad situation - and ultimately is meaningless. There have been a million post mortem comments on CDD and CBJ - what essential thing did that accomplish? I don't personally care that it happened, not a prude in general about criticism. These people are being paid exorbitant amounts and that comes with some expectations and heat.

But for me with CHW, it is different. I think CHW is and has always been in way over her head as a head coach. It is the fault of a weak administration that she wound up in the job in the first place - no fault of her own. I think she should be replaced. But she is a good person (best I can tell), a VFL, has contributed greatly to the Lady Vols as a player and an assistant coach for a significant part of her life - and I don't particularly want to see her trashed.

It's one person's opinion, expressed on an opinion board. If you had some other substance for brains, you would have no problem understanding the point, as others on this board have and have expressed similar thoughts. You might disagree with the point - that's your right. You might think the discussion won't go in that direction - maybe a reasonable counter-argument that could have been made in response to my post that would have resulted in no response from me. But instead you got over-the-top defensive and had to go for the burn. And in response to a pretty mild attempt to clarify, you had to escalate further.

Whatever. Have at it. Do whatever the #@$% you want. As conveyed in my tagline, no one of consequence, I actually do recognize it doesn't matter what I think or say. You are absolutely free to ignore me. But I'm allowed to express my opinion, and to respond to nitwits that unnecessarily pick fights. How about doing everyone a favor and just put me on ignore?

 

[aurabass]

it would be helpful to stop being an *** and making yourself such an easy target.
Loquacious is not part of the female anatomy.
But here's the bottom line. If you had some other substance for brains, you would have no problem understanding
How about doing everyone a favor and just put me on ignore?

Folks who wasted time reading the exchanges you forced in this thread will easily comprehend it's nature. As pointless as it is I will not ignore your lame attacks on my intelligence. The posts speak for themselves and there is no need to repeat the lack of understanding you have so clearly displayed again.
I hope those who have followed this exchange have enjoyed it as much as I have. I fear I am susceptible to finding humor in aggressive trainwreck responses. I would hope you can get over your failure and learn a valuable lesson - attacking an adversaries intelligence reveals far more about you. Your persistence in that futility becomes pedantic. And as irritating as that may be it is of little consequence.
If I were as ill-equipped to deal with your pronouncements as you pretend, your efforts would be completely wasted, so how does it profit you to continue? But please continue if you cannot resist.
My apologies to those who are confronted with this mess. I only wanted to discuss the coaching situation in terms of how those inside the situation might have seen it. Thanks again to Volfan2012 and Madtown for their recollections concerning Kyra.

 

[munsterlander]

Folks who wasted time reading the exchanges you forced in this thread will easily comprehend it's nature. As pointless as it is I will not ignore your lame attacks on my intelligence. The posts speak for themselves and there is no need to repeat the lack of understanding you have so clearly displayed again.
I hope those who have followed this exchange have enjoyed it as much as I have. I fear I am susceptible to finding humor in aggressive trainwreck responses. I would hope you can get over your failure and learn a valuable lesson - attacking an adversaries intelligence reveals far more about you. Your persistence in that futility becomes pedantic. And as irritating as that may be it is of little consequence.
If I were as ill-equipped to deal with your pronouncements as you pretend, your efforts would be completely wasted, so how does it profit you to continue? But please continue if you cannot resist.
My apologies to those who are confronted with this mess. I only wanted to discuss the coaching situation in terms of how those inside the situation might have seen it. Thanks again to Volfan2012 and Madtown for their recollections concerning Kyra.

Irony.

 

[madtownvol]

Sorry Madtown, it was not my intention to convey any malicious intent. I was removed from the loop - resigned from 247/Scout - stopped my Lady Vols Weblog - and quit paying any attention due to complete disgust with the program's direction by that time.
.

Well, welcome back!