University of Tennessee Athletics
Alumni At Every Turn For Lady Vols' First Trip
December 10, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- As Tennessee hits the road for the first time this season to face a former Lady Vol on the opposing bench, the current team got a strong message from spending time with a group of Lady Vol alumni, led by one of the most famous.
Before boarding a plane for Wichita State to face the Jody Adams-coached Shockers, the Lady Vols had the opportunity to practice with Tamika Catchings, Alexis Hornbuckle and Glory Johnson.
"What better example than those three?" said head coach Holly Warlick. "They are three of the toughest kids we have had in this program and it was great to have them on the floor."
Catchings took in the game against Virginia Tech on Sunday and spoke to the players during the week since in addition to providing the practice floor with a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and 10-time WNBA All-Star.
"She really spent time with our kids," Warlick said. "She usually comes in twice a year and spent time with the kids individually and as a group."
She gave her perspective and encouragement to a team with just seven healthy players heading into Friday night's game.
Though Warlick refused to use the short bench as an excuse, she admitted that lacking in numbers limited what her team could do with tempo, particularly in the full-court press that has been so effective in generating steals and points when deployed.
"It has not allowed us to sustain a lot of pressure that we want to do; it wears you down," Warlick said. "It speeds the game up for us and I think our team likes that and I like that. But when you have six or seven people, it's tough. We've had to do it sparingly and try to figure out when the best time is."
Despite the short bench, Warlick sees the road trip as a time for the team to focus in on itself and basketball.
"I'm excited," she said of the prospect of heading on the road. "I think it will give us an opportunity to really focus on ourselves. We won't have any distractions. In the past, our team has played really good on the road because we have them in the hotel and we can watch a lot of tape with them, spend a lot of time with them and do a lot more prep than we can here."
The series with the Shockers is the second of two games, as Adams brought her team to Knoxville in 2014. The starting point guard on the Lady Vols' 1991 NCAA national championship team, Adams began her coaching career as a student assistant for Pat Summitt at Tennessee.
Fellow Tennessee alum and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Bridgette Gordon is in her sixth year as an assistant on Adams' staff.
Adams is the all-time winningest coach in WSU history and led her team to a school-record 29 wins a season ago and its third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"Jody and I are great friends," Warlick said. "When it comes down to walking out onto the court, it's a competition. I think she's a great coach and I have a lot of respect for her. We'll talk before the game, we'll talk after the game, your friendship always lasts. But during that time on the court, it's game on."
