Congrats Kellie For Huge Road Win Over Drake!

#1

creekdipper

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#1
Coach Kellie Harper's young Missouri State team just knocked off Drake 85-79 to take sole possesion of 1st place in Missouri Valley Conference.

Drake is currently ranked #27, has beaten ranked Rutgers this season, and had a 47-game win streak against Valley opponents before tonight's loss.

Kellie's team is on a 11-game streak of their own after starting out 1-7 against a tough non-conference schedule. They lost very close games to both Gonzaga and Mizzou. Evidently, taking their lumps early helped prepare the team (with only 1 senior and 2 juniors) for the conference. They're resilient...down by 11 in third quarter before dialing up the defense with steals, rebounding, and forcing turnovers.

Listening to Kellie's post-game comments was like hearing Pat in her prime. Excited and happy about the win while composed, articulate, and insightul in her analysis. Gracious and complimentary toward Drake and extremely proud of her own kids. She even has a lot of Pat's vocal inflections.

Great win on the road against an excellent Drake team. Kellie is doing a great job building a winning program.

[Edited 2/3 to correct roster makeup and win streak total.]
 
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#4
#4
That’s a huge win for Kellie! Didn’t realize they were that young. I’ve seen Drake play before and man do they score.

One thing that I’ve noticed with her teams is they usually get better as the season goes. Do you have a link to her comments? Would love to hear anything that resembles Pat Summitt!!
 
#7
#7
Kellie Jolly, #14, with the French Braid!
Oh man, she was awesome! A lot of teams always slept on her.

What do you mean? LOL All kidding aside I would love to see her come back home to TN. I really believe she could do the job with the Lady Vols!
 
#8
#8
Coach Kellie Harper's young Missouri State team just knocked off Drake 85-79 to take sole possesion of 1st place in Missouri Valley Conference.

Drake is currently ranked #27, has beaten ranked Rutgers this season, and had a 47-game win streak against Valley opponents before tonight's loss.

Kellie's team is on a 12-game streak of their own after starting out 1-7 against a tough non-conference schedule. They lost very close games to both Gonzaga and Mizzou
Evidently taking their lumps early helped prepare the team (with only 1 senior and 1 junior) for the conference. Tbey're resilient...down by 11 in third quarter before dialing up the defense with steals, rebounding, and forcing turnovers.

Listening to Kellie's post-game comments was like hearing Pat in her prime. Excited and happy about the win while composed, articulate, and insightul in her analysis. Gracious and complimentary toward Drake and extremely proud of her own kids. She even has a lot of Pat's vocal inflections.

Great win on the road against an excellent Drake team. Kellie is doing a great job building a winning program.

She reminds me of Pat, also.
 
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#10
#10
Not sure if there will be a change, but she’d be a great choice. Could fire up our fan base. I assume she’d want to come back?
 
#11
#11
As it turns out she would be an outstanding choice to become Head Coach of the Vols.Good X's and O's coach,great motivator.She was not able to bring on the talent fast enough at NC State but I believe she would be a great recruiter at Tennessee.
 
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#12
#12
A lot of people will bring up her tenure at NC State and compare her to Wes Moore. She was super young then and I wonder if what she learned from all her experiences would make her the right candidate to lead the LV.
 
#13
#13
A lot of people will bring up her tenure at NC State and compare her to Wes Moore. She was super young then and I wonder if what she learned from all her experiences would make her the right candidate to lead the LV.
That would be in the eye of the beholder.Some will say yes while others would say no.My opinion would be an emphatic yes.
 
#14
#14
That would be in the eye of the beholder.Some will say yes while others would say no.My opinion would be an emphatic yes.

I hear ya :) I wonder who she would keep on her staff is the more interesting question! I love BG and the ladies respect her! SR had a huge had in getting these ladies here and getting some top ranked classes and they all love Dean... So who do you think she (or the next coach) keeps on staff ? Remember her husband is also her asst so someone would most likely be gone from the current staff.

KJH could also speak to Davis about playing with a player like Holdsclaw she saw what it took for her to be that great day in and day out. Her professional career may not have panned out like some thought but Holdsclaw was undoubtedly one of the top college players of all time😎
 
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#15
#15
I hear ya :) I wonder who she would keep on her staff is the more interesting question! I love BG and the ladies respect her! SR had a huge had in getting these ladies here and getting some top ranked classes and they all love Dean... So who do you think she (or the next coach) keeps on staff ? Remember her husband is also her asst so someone would most likely be gone from the current staff.

KJH could also speak to Davis about playing with a player like Holdsclaw she saw what it took for her to be that great day in and day out. Her professional career may not have panned out like some thought but Holdsclaw was undoubtedly one of the top college players of all time😎
It seems like CHW might win enough games for that not to happen. Hopefully we would keep one or two though. Recruiting has been good. X & O might just be what we’re missing.
 
#16
#16
It seems like CHW might win enough games for that not to happen. Hopefully we would keep one or two though. Recruiting has been good. X & O might just be what we’re missing.

Not sure wins over LSU, Florida and probably Vandy will cut it. She needs to win two of Auburn, SC, @Mizzou, @MSST, and @TAMU. No small feat. If the only conference wins are against the bottom teams (with a few losses) and their signature OOC wins are Clemson and Texas, I think Tennessee will need a lot of help to get to the NCAAT.
 
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#17
#17
Not sure wins over LSU, Florida and probably Vandy will cut it. She needs to win two of Auburn, SC, @Mizzou, @MSST, and @TAMU. No small feat. If the only conference wins are against the bottom teams (with a few losses) and their signature OOC wins are Clemson and Texas, I think Tennessee will need a lot of help to get to the NCAAT.

I usually never pay attention to whether or not some team or another ever got into the tournament undeservedly, but it would be interesting know what the records were of the worst teams to ever make it in. My fear is that the committee won’t be able to justify letting them in. I actually think (or, hope) the committee will WANT to find a way to let Tennessee continue the streak. I get a feeling that many longtime WCBB fans — even some longtime rivals — are watching Tennessee these days and feeling some of the same sense of deep loss that we are.

So many other programs’ most memorable milestones involved games with Tennessee when Tennessee was the gold standard for the sport, so watching the Lady Vols lose their iconic leader and then to see how quickly dozens of records and streaks and positive accomplisments have been destoyed, well... it may be taking some of the shine off of THEIR memories.

All this to say that we may have to hope that members of the committee take pity on Tennessee. I mean, you KNOW they all know what is actually causing this fast fall from elite status. And they know that it’ll likely soon be corrected. So, maybe they say, “Just this ONCE...”
 
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#18
#18
Kellie is from hometown and I watched her play for years. Great young lady. I was her Young Life leader. Her brother Brent was also a heck of a good college player at Tennessee Tech.
 
#19
#19
Wonder if she's ready to come home?????

Amen! Amen! Remember after playing for Pat Summit on National Championship teams, she became an assistant at Auburn under Joe Ciampi and learned plenty about defense too. I would gladly support her to take over the LV program and restore it to what it was under Pat Summit.
 
#20
#20
I usually never pay attention to whether or not some team or another ever got into the tournament undeservedly, but it would be interesting know what the records were of the worst teams to ever make it in. My fear is that the committee won’t be able to justify letting them in. I actually think (or, hope) the committee will WANT to find a way to let Tennessee continue the streak. I get a feeling that many longtime WCBB fans — even some longtime rivals — are watching Tennessee these days and feeling some of the same sense of deep loss that we are.

So many other programs’ most memorable milestones involved games with Tennessee when Tennessee was the gold standard for the sport, so watching the Lady Vols lose their iconic leader and then to see how quickly dozens of records and streaks and positive accomplisments have been destoyed, well... it may be taking some of the shine off of THEIR memories.

All this to say that we may have to hope that members of the committee take pity on Tennessee. I mean, you KNOW they all know what is actually causing this fast fall from elite status. And they know that it’ll likely soon be corrected. So, maybe they say, “Just this ONCE...”

Maybe if they can justify it. But if you take a team like Georgia that is currently not projected to make the NCAAT and finish ahead of Tennessee in the SEC standings PLUS has a road win over Tennessee, it will be very hard to justify not putting them ahead on the at large bid list. I don't think I've seen a situation where a team lower in the conference standings got a bid over a team above them.

In any case, it's a moot point. If Tennessee doesn't finish 50-50 in the SEC, they aren't going to the tournament. Even if they do have the record needed, they'll have to hope that Georgia slips up and there aren't any mid major upsets in their tournaments.
 
#21
#21
The truth is, regardless of how terrific or average any coach was able to recruit while she or he was anywhere else, that same coach will find it infinitely easier to recruit a basketball-crazy athlete to play for Tennessee.

It really doesn’t matter whether head coaches Kellie, Wes, Nikki or anyone else got any of the top 30 players to come play for them. They weren’t recruiting for Tennessee. I would bet the farm that if ANY of the three of the above-mentioned Tennessee graduates — or ANY OTHER decent D1 coach — were to be hired, that they’d be landing top recruits. This is a no-brainer.
 
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#22
#22
Maybe if they can justify it. But if you take a team like Georgia that is currently not projected to make the NCAAT and finish ahead of Tennessee in the SEC standings PLUS has a road win over Tennessee, it will be very hard to justify not putting them ahead on the at large bid list. I don't think I've seen a situation where a team lower in the conference standings got a bid over a team above them.

In any case, it's a moot point. If Tennessee doesn't finish 50-50 in the SEC, they aren't going to the tournament. Even if they do have the record needed, they'll have to hope that Georgia slips up and there aren't any mid major upsets in their tournaments.

I was afraid you’d say that. Couldn’t you have just lied to me? lol
 
#23
#23
I was afraid you’d say that. Couldn’t you have just lied to me? lol
Does it take Tennessee missing the NCAA Tournament to finally get Fulmer to make a move & fire Holly? I don't think he has the (you know what) to do it.
 
#24
#24
Well Jolly is 93 and 69 at Missouri State and she didn't fare to well at NC St either. I am hoping when if we ever decide to hire a different coach we don't go for someone with a worse winning percentage than Warlick has at Tennessee. This would include Jolly and Fargas who were former Tennessee players.
 
#25
#25
Well Jolly is 93 and 69 at Missouri State and she didn't fare to well at NC St either. I am hoping when if we ever decide to hire a different coach we don't go for someone with a worse winning percentage than Warlick has at Tennessee. This would include Jolly and Fargas who were former Tennessee players.

Did she have to built this program back up? Has she gotten them to the tourney more times than not? What was her record at Western Carolina? Not arguing I am just trying to look at the whole picture ... she is on a 12 game win streak right now and she came close to smacking down Mizzu and Gonzaga this year.
 

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