University of Tennessee Athletics
WRIGHT A BIG-TIME WALK-ON
May 11, 2007 | Women's Track
May 11, 2007
By Darren Epps
Staff Writer
University of Tennessee women's track and field coach J.J. Clark remembers receiving a call from a coach -- or maybe it was a track official -- about some really fast girl he needed to see.
Clark, like many coaches at high-profile universities, fields these calls all the time. Some parent or coach believes their runner is good enough for the Southeastern Conference, places a call and expects the hidden gem to be uncovered. These inquiries usually result in a dose of reality, not a spot on the team.
Rodney Stoker, the former Red Bank High School and current Bryan College coach, says he placed the call. He told Clark about a girl named Phoebe Wright, a runner whose distinguished career at Red Bank resulted in surprisingly subdued attention from bigger schools. Chattanooga is better known for producing softball players and wrestlers, not track stars.
She wanted to attend Colorado or Appalachian State, but neither school provided enough funding. Somehow, one of the top runners in the Chattanooga area last year was going almost completely unnoticed, aside from a certain coach at Bryan College.
So Clark said, sure, he'll follow up on the call and meet this girl.
"I thought, 'J.J. doesn't know what he's getting,' " Stoker said.
Stoker was right. The first time Wright ran for Clark at Tennessee, he danced right there on the track.
"He said that I had the talent to run at Tennessee and I was going to be good," Wright said. "He knocked some confidence in me."
