Official: Entire 2019 class is staying

#26
#26
Last week Walz could walk on water..this week Harper can...WBB fans...you gotta love em...lol...
I was an advocate for the Walz hire...no regrets. I didn’t believe he would lose this class. That’s beginning to sound like whatever wrong sounds like. I know to preach doom before a hire and every waking moment afterwards is no way to call yourself a fan. All the supporters labeled “bluehairs” should feel vindicated imo.
 
#30
#30
To be honest, Kelly was not my first choice, but being able to keep this recruiting class together is a big step in the right direction. After hearing this news, I'm feeling much better today than yesterday about Kelly being Head Coach of the Lady Vols.
 
#31
#31
I hope Evina stays don't matter to me who plays point guard and who plays the two. Horston gonna make a huge difference in the team. Davis needs to stop the bad turnovers and get more aggressive she is way to passive in her play. Centers will be young but they have the length and height to be very effective even as freshmen. The next coaches job will be to get these players mentally prepared and raise their playing IQ. What I saw on the court was a team making a lot of bad decisions with the ball. The mental mistakes were costing us defensively and offensively. The number of possessions we lost every game because of bad decisions were enough to win several of the games we lost.
 
#33
#33
I hope Evina stays don't matter to me who plays point guard and who plays the two. Horston gonna make a huge difference in the team. Davis needs to stop the bad turnovers and get more aggressive she is way to passive in her play. Centers will be young but they have the length and height to be very effective even as freshmen. The next coaches job will be to get these players mentally prepared and raise their playing IQ. What I saw on the court was a team making a lot of bad decisions with the ball. The mental mistakes were costing us defensively and offensively. The number of possessions we lost every game because of bad decisions were enough to win several of the games we lost.
The offense will be much better in 2019-2020 than it was in 2018-2019 and the discipline will be much,much better:cool:
 
#34
#34
The offense will be much better in 2019-2020 than it was in 2018-2019 and the discipline will be much,much better:cool:
We hope no honeymoon for Kellie the one thing Holly left her was the players to be successful. It was obvious after seven years Holly didn't have a plan and we'll see if Kellie has one.
 
#35
#35
Kellie was not my 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice but the players and recruits seem to be okay with it and I hope the best for all of them. Time will be the judge of how good of a hire this will be but that is true for anyone they could have hired.
 
#37
#37
It seems that it was important to all three that a former Lady Vol player would be their new coach...

Malika Horston, the mother of Jordan, said it felt like Christmas Eve when she awoke early Tuesday morning to breaking news that Harper had been hired.

“I was excited and nervous,” Malika Horston said. “It was mixed emotions.”

Jordan doesn’t even turn 18 years old until May 21. To hear Harper’s voice on the phone was a relief for mama.

“I was just glad we got a chance to speak to her,” Horston said. “It was a very nice conversation. I had a good vibe with her. She said some very promising things that assured me about Jordan’s decision to stay the course.”

The families of all three recruits expressed their love and well-wishes for Warlick and how the news of Harper’s hiring was bittersweet.

“I think we’re relieved that they found a woman to coach Tennessee who was a Lady Vol,” said Andrea Saunders, the mother of Emily. “We feel comfortable with her. She told us she would take care of her daughter, and she has children, so she understands. She won’t turn everything upside-down.”

Saunders said Fulmer had remained in touch with the family throughout the process, and that helped ease their minds.

Harper spoke to the parents during the day and then connected with the recruits in the evening.

“I could tell she’s full of energy and excited as well,” said Tammy Brown, the mother of Tamari. “Her first question was, ‘How is Tamari?’ ”

Brown had followed a methodical two-year process during Tamari’s recruitment to take unofficial visits and establish relationships with coaching staffs before making a decision. Tamari committed to Tennessee last summer because "it felt like home." The news about the current staff’s departure shook the family and rattled the recruits – “This is their life,” Horston pointed out – because those relationships were suddenly severed. It was a jolting and emotional situation for the families.

“One of the biggest things I liked about UT is their support and dedication to the women’s program,” Brown said. “I was waiting impatiently to see if they would hire a man or hire a woman, not just any woman, but one that understood what it’s like to be dedicated to the women’s basketball legacy at UT.”

Harper’s calls brought calm to the parents and assured the recruits how much she wanted them at Tennessee. For Brown, the announcement about Harper signaled to her that all was well in Knoxville.

When I saw her name … I knew the legacy would carry on,” Brown said. “She has lived it personally. I am glad the decision has been made. Now, let’s move forward in building our relationships.”

While the three recruits have signed, a fourth player committed last month. Jessie Rennie, a Class of 2019 shooting guard from Australia, had been scheduled to visit the weekend of March 30, but the trip was canceled after Warlick was let go March 27.

Samantha Tomlinson, the founder of Aussie Basketball USA, tweeted her congratulations Tuesday to Harper. If Harper wanted to reconnect with the Australian player, Tomlinson would be able to facilitate it. Rennie also is aware of the new developments.

-from 247 Sports

Your "highlights" reflect my hopes to a tee. It was hard for me to imagine a man as coach of the "LADY VOLS"
It also excites me that these incoming young ladies and their parents appear to be all in and all Lady Vols.
 
#38
#38
Being a Lady Vol is important to girls that come to Tennessee. Imagine that. Holly was right about one thing when she said, "Girls come to Tennessee because it's Tennessee." And Kellie may have been my favorite Lady Vol athlete of all time. Even before this job was open.
 
#39
#39
Great news. I'm surprised Fulmer didn't even offer Holly a desk gig or something. Just "you're gone" and that's it. Hardcore.
 
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#40
#40
Great news. I'm surprised Fulmer didn't even offer Holly a desk gig or something. Just "you're gone" and that's it. Hardcore.

Sounds like the situation between Holly and the team was worse than anyone knew. She couldn’t rightly stay in the department with that much animosity swirling around. I’m glad Fulmer had the gonads to pull the plug on all of it. Hoping KJH runs a tighter ship
 
#41
#41
This year, and the next few, we'll get to see how much of Holly Warlick's highly ranked recruiting classes were because of her, how many were because of her staff, and how many were because of the program presence and reputation. I've been pretty adamant that #3 had more to do with it than some might suspect, though I admit it will have fallen off a bit due to the lack of success in the past decade. Still. I am hopeful that this is a sign that a lot of coaches could come to Tennessee and get great results when selling the brand. Not to take away from heavy lifting done by the assistants to build the relationships. Or Holly, who I'm sure did that as well. Just -- I'm convinced that, similar to how Kentucky or Duke can elevate a coach in the men's game by the program strength ... well ... here we go. Time to find out.
 
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#43
#43
This article is dedicated to all of the ‘smart’ posters that railed against Fulmer making a LVFL ‘cheap’ hire.

Looks like he knew what he was doing all along.


Hiring a past player wasn't an absolute necessity, but all else being equal or near equal, it was a very good idea. Now that the hire has been made, we all might as well embrace the fact that Kelly played on 3 National Title teams while at Tennessee.

These young ladies prove that tadition is still very important for Lady Vols Basketball.
 
#45
#45
Glad they're staying. But I did find this amusing:

"I don't know [Harper] yet, but I'm excited to meet her," Horston said. "Tennessee is not going to pick the wrong person as coach. ..."

Um....

But that's water under the bridge and I'm hopeful for a return to respectability with CKH. (or is it CKJH? seems like a 3-letter thing...)
 
#46
#46
This year, and the next few, we'll get to see how much of Holly Warlick's highly ranked recruiting classes were because of her, how many were because of her staff, and how many were because of the program presence and reputation. I've been pretty adamant that #3 had more to do with it than some might suspect, though I admit it will have fallen off a bit due to the lack of success in the past decade. Still. I am hopeful that this is a sign that a lot of coaches could come to Tennessee and get great results when selling the brand. Not to take away from heavy lifting done by the assistants to build the relationships. Or Holly, who I'm sure did that as well. Just -- I'm convinced that, similar to how Kentucky or Duke can elevate a coach in the men's game by the program strength ... well ... here we go. Time to find out.
Holly has even admitted that herself. I remember her being interviewed after particularly good signing class they asked her how she did it and her answer was, "It's Tennessee."
 
#49
#49
Great news. I'm surprised Fulmer didn't even offer Holly a desk gig or something. Just "you're gone" and that's it. Hardcore.
Holly wouldn't leave on her own fuition. She heard the sound of the drum & just ignored it.
Bye Holly!
Hello Happiness! 😊
 

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