On Monday, Tennessee announced that it was moving on from Kellie Harper, who went 108-52 in five seasons with the Lady Vols.
The move is a strong indicator that Tennessee understands the arms race happening in women’s basketball and doesn’t want to be left behind. With South Carolina at the top of the conference, and LSU — the reigning national champs — right there, too, there hasn’t been a ton of space at the very top of the league. However, moving on from Harper — who in four of five seasons finished third in the SEC — is a pretty strong statement that anything other than contending for the top spot isn’t good enough. And, with Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC next season, the league’s women’s basketball power only becomes stronger and deeper.
The big question here: Does Tennessee stick with another Pat Summitt-linked coach? Or after Holly Warlick (the Lady Vols’ head coach from 2012-19 who was a longtime Summitt assistant) and Harper (who won three national titles are a player for Summitt), is Tennessee going to step outside of the Summitt line?
The Lady Vols are legendary program that have helped lay the foundation of women’s basketball. They haven’t won a national title since 2008, but with the right coaching staff in place, this is a program…
