University of Tennessee Athletics
Gaines' Visit Resonates With Lady Vols
September 22, 2014 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The film viewing area in the Lady Vol locker room at Thompson-Boling Arena was filled with emotion Thursday afternoon. Much of that emotion took the form of tears streaming down the faces of every person in the room as the SEC Storied documentary "It's Time" played on the large screen at the front of the room.
The documentary shared the story of Ole Miss defensive back Chucky Mullins and Vanderbilt fullback Brad Gaines and the bond formed between them after a 1989 on-field collision paralyzed Mullins.
Gaines came to Knoxville to share his story and the life lessons learned through his experience with the Tennessee women's basketball team.
"You have to understand what you have before you can appreciate it," Gaines said. "Your family is here within these four walls. It's not what's out there on Friday night, it's not what's on campus, it's what you have right here."
The event was organized as part of a continuing series of team-building events for the Lady Vols. Director of Basketball Operations Michael Beaumont got to know Gaines and the story of Mullins while he was Assistant Athletics Director for Football Operations at Ole Miss.
During the documentary's debut airing on the SEC Network, head coach Holly Warlick called Beaumont at the first commercial break insisting right away that he find a way to bring Gaines in to speak to her team.
The message "It's Time" that Mullins shared with his Ole Miss teammates in the stadium tunnel before the Rebels' 1989 appearance in the Liberty Bowl particularly resonated with Warlick.
"These are two guys that are on different sides of the tracks," Warlick said of the backstory. "He talks about selflessness, when we're struggling, when we're feeling sorry for ourselves, it's time. It's time to refocus, time to get out of yourself, it's time to put this team first and to understand what's been given to you."
The team was not aware that Gaines was sitting in the back of the room as the documentary played on the screen in front of them. Beaumont's introduction of his friend stirred the emotions again.
"It's very powerful and emotional," senior Isabelle Harrison said. "It lets you know how blessed you are, it makes you think that everything happens for a reason and that everyone has a story. You never know what can help you through your struggles."
The message the story sends is not just one about overcoming adversity, it is about coming together as a team, as friends, as people and knowing those people are there when circumstances change your life.
"You have to know that you can count on the person sitting next to you," Gaines said. "We're not talking about what happens on the court, we're talking about that person, when they need you, can count on you. Everyone in this room will have a struggle; you have to be able to lean on someone. You have to be able to be there for someone."
And that message is the one that stuck with Harrison.
"It teaches us to love one another, that this isn't all about basketball," she said. "If that had never happened, they never would have met. I know that if I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have experienced some of the experiences I have had that have made me a better person."
