Tennessee makes surprising coaching change for Lady Vols basketball following early March exit
Tennessee is looking for a new head coach to try and revive the Lady Vols basketball program heading into the 2024-25 season.
On Monday, Tennessee AD Danny White announced that head coach Kellie Harper will not return after 5 seasons with the program. Harper finishes with a 108-52 overall record including 4 NCAA Tournament appearances. (The canceled postseason due to COVID came during Harper’s first season leading the Lady Vols.)
“After a thorough review of our women’s basketball program, I have informed Kellie we are making a change in leadership,” said White. “Decisions like these are never easy to make, especially with someone who has done so much for the Lady Vols as a three-time national champion student-athlete. Her love and passion for Tennessee and the Lady Vols is second to none. She has invested so much heart and soul into our program and truly has given her all for Tennessee. I thank Kellie for her stewardship of our women’s basketball program and wish her and Jon well in the next chapter of their lives.”
As for the future, White announced a nationwide search will begin immediately. He also said he sought input from Tennessee’s student-athletes ahead of that search.
Harper (born Kellie Jolly) played for the Lady Vols under legendary head coach Pat Summitt from 1995-99, helping win 3 national titles in the process. She led the program to a pair of Sweet 16 trips but the Lady Vols did not win the SEC under her leadership.
“It has been an honor to serve at my alma mater and to coach a Lady Vol program I love so dearly,” Harper said. “I am grateful for the opportunity my staff and I have had to lead an amazing group of young women and to mentor them on the court as well as provide them with life skills that will benefit them far beyond the game of basketball.”
Tennessee Athletics announces change in women’s basketball leadership.
— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) April 1, 2024
Time for a new direction?
The legendary Pat Summitt revolutionized the program during a historic career for the program with 8 national titles under her leadership. Unfortunately, Tennessee has not been back to the national championship since 2008.
More recently, the program has been bypassed by South Carolina under Dawn Staley and LSU under Kim Mulkey. The Tigers are the reigning national champions with Mulkey leading LSU to its first-ever title, and Staley has led the Gamecocks to 2 titles and the doorstep of a perfect season this year.
Since Summitt left the program in 2012, the Lady Vols have hired 2 coaches, and both had extensive connections to Summitt. Holly Warlick, a former player under Summitt and longtime assistant for the Lady Vols, went 172-67 overall but was unable to lead Tennessee beyond the Elite 8.
Harper came back to Tennessee after leading Western Carolina, NC State and Missouri State to the NCAA Tournament, but she was equally unable to deliver on the kind of expectations established under Summitt.
Now, it’s fair to wonder if the time has come to step outside of the Summitt tree for next leader of the Lady Vols.
Time to look outside. Need fresh blood.
Mostly agree. That said I think that if you delete the word Tennessee from Kara Lawson’s resume she would still be a strong candidate. WNBA, USA Olympic Basketball(as a player and coach), NBA assistant coach, Duke. That said if you find someone with no links and a strong resume pay them.
Agree. It’s time for an outside talent to come lead the program. Harper VFL.
Not a Vols fan…but, unless the prospective coach is Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, or Geno…just who does Danny White intend to replace her with that’s going to be any better?
South Carolina and LSU are the cream of the crop in SEC Womens Basketball, and are both going to remain that way for quite some time. That’s not to say that UT and all the others shouldn’t put their best foot forward, but this is a bit of a poor look on Tennessee’s part…one, by parting with a successful coach who was a UT alum…and, also , waiting until the “buyout clause” reduced her salary!
Danny White doesn’t have a plan and is simply an April Fool on April Fool’s. This is the only sport UTjr is a blue blood in so it might be possible to leverage that. I only have confidence in Danny White to keep the wealthy fans happy and update stadiums.
You literally said the same thing before Danny White hired Huepel. Stop it. Schmack you face really hard for being dumb. lol. This guy found coaches like Nate Oates and hired them and many others are at an elite level. Do you like being unranked and embarrassed by other girl bball teams? Turn in your orange jersey moron..lol. Harper has done some good things but the “Pat Summit tree cult” said, we only want former players of TN to coach the team. How silly, since that time, we’ve won diddly squat in woman’s bball. Harper’s buyout was only a million. Something new is better than what we’ve gotten and we wait too long, there will be fewer choices.
No-I didn’t say anything like that when Jeremy Pruitt was fired, nor when Heupel was hired.
Not a very thoughtful post foodman. your opinion is only staley, mulkey and geno could do better than a sweet 16 appearance? Theres quite a few coaches out there that went to the elite 8 in the last few years that beg to differ. I like kelly as much as anyone but the writing has been on the wall for a while. All you have to do is look at recruiting. That hockey stick points in the wrong direction. I also agree with others who say she just isnt good enough at coaching. Heck foodman I bet even old oskie could take UT to the sweet 16 most seasons. Your opinion is schools should never fire an alum, regardless of how they are doing? Come on that is ridiculous. The UT womens basketball program is like Kentucky in mens basketball. You think they wouldnt fire a ky alum who failed to get them deep into the tourney… oh wait, bad example even though Cals not an alum:) my point is Danny White is paid to make tough decisions. This was a tough one no doubt but its also the right one. He may not get one any better but as you yourself said, he has to put his best foot forward and kelly aint that.
TN has had the players to beat both those teams. Just not the coaching. With a better coach and coaching, TN wins more and beat SC and doesn’t lose from poor, embarrassing defensive failure. It’s a great look. This was the only coach in the major sports at TN that wasn’t at an elite level. She’s been here 5 years and we struggle to be even ranked. Harper was a great player but hardly enough coaching experience to come to TN and expect her to be anything close to Pat Summit. Five years and not much to show for it. Last elite 8 win was when? It’s been ten years since the woman’s program even smelled a final four or championship. This coach was good, but not elite and some poor coaching calls that left us all baffled, even this past month. Tony Vitello, Elite. Barns, elite, Heupel, elite, Karen Weekly, elite. Kelly Harper? See the difference? Just look at Kelly’s record at Missouri St in six years there, in that weak confernece? 2 NCAA appearances.
I’m still a huge fan of KH as a player and appreciate all she has done for UT. Unfortunately as a coach, she has had limited success with obvious basketball IQ mishaps illustrating she was in over her head. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of at this level of competition not to mention UT’s demands/expectations. Also, hats off to an AD willing to do what has and needs to be done.
Well said. We all love Kelly and wish her the best but we had to get out of this mindset that we could only hire from the, “Pat Summit tree”, and make them HC’s here. That’s never worked, worked even worse when we tried it with TN football, “hiring within”. Disaster. Stopped and hired outside the program and the football program is booming. Basketball for men’s, booming. Hired outside for men’s baseball with Vitello, booming. Kelly was the last major sport where we haven’t done that and 5 years tells us, our formula has worked well for hiring outside and based on that coache’s skill and resume.
9-4 and a big win in the Citrus Bowl is “booming” now? OK lol. What a
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He (AD White) also said he sought input from Tennessee’s student-athletes…
I repeat – He (AD White) also said he sought input from Tennessee’s student-athletes…
Let’s file this one under the “things I think are odd for an Athletic Director to do” category. Right next to the – “Let’s ask the inmates what they think of the asylum” category…
No humpy it makes sense and he did the same thing with the football team. Oh wait you were being literal with your own team. Oh I get it and understand why you would say that.
Article: “She was unable to deliver on the kind of expectations established under Summitt”. The reality is that probably there is not any coach out there who is capable of delivering the type of teams and successes of Pat Summitt. She accomplished more than most coaches can even imagine. Of course every fan base wants a Natty, but the word Reality must come into view in projection future “Successes”.
We should be so lucky as to have Kellie Jolly Harper at Auburn. She will definitely land on her feet. There are very few coaches that aren’t a roll of the dice. I don’t wish Tennessee anything but the best going forward, but replacing a legend like Pat and expecting the same results in a different era is never easy. It is like walking over glass with bare feet and not expecting to have a few cuts.
How many coaches did bama cycle thru between Bear and Saban?
THIS HIRE WILL GET YOU BACK TO THE HEADY DAYS OF 1998 FOR SURE!!!