University of Tennessee Athletics
UT's Warlick Picked By USA Basketball
April 15, 2015 | Women's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Holly Warlick has been chosen as an assistant coach for the 2015 USA Women's World University Games Team, USA Basketball announced on Wednesday.
Warlick, who recently completed her third season as head coach and 30th year overall on the UT staff, will make her first coaching appearance with USA Basketball at the 2015 World University Games, held July 4-13 in Gwangju, South Korea. She will join head coach Joe McKeown (pronounced Mick-Q-ann) of Northwestern and assistant Tanya Warren, head coach at Northern Iowa, on the USA bench.
The coaching staff was selected by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
"While Joe McKeown, Holly Warlick and Tanya Warren haven't coached for USA Basketball previously, they all three bring outstanding experience as coaches in the college game," said Jim Foster (Tennessee at Chattanooga), chair of the USA Women's Junior National Team Committee. "The committee really feels that given their achievements with their respective teams, they will be able to continue the success that USA Basketball has enjoyed at the World University Games."
Held every other year, the World University Games is organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The WUGs are a multi-sport competition open to men and women who are between the ages of 17 and 24 (born between 1/1/88 and 12/31/98), who are enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2015-16 school year.
Trials to select the 2015 USA World University Games Team will be held May 14-17, 2015, at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Invitations to attend trials will be issued in April to approximately 30 athletes who have at least one year of collegiate eligibility remaining.
"It's just a tremendous honor to be a player and represent our country and now to be asked to coach with USA Basketball," said Warlick, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team. "I feel like it's an opportunity to give back to the players and to USA Basketball for the opportunities I had, and also it's a chance for me to learn and grow as well. I've always dreamed of doing this, and I am extremely excited to be part of the coaching staff for our World University Games Team.
"Both coach McKeown and coach Warren are very successful coaches and proven winners. They have different styles and philosophies, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for each of them. I've watched their teams, how they run their programs and how they handle their players. I look forward to learning and sharing ideas as we work together, and I know they will represent our country with a great amount of respect and will be as passionate about this as I am."
After serving as an assistant and associate head coach at Tennessee for a combined 27 years, Warlick took the helm of Tennessee in 2012-13, and the program didn't miss a beat. She guided the Lady Vols to a 27-8 record, the Southeastern Conference regular season title and the NCAA Elite Eight. For her efforts, Warlick earned the 2013 WBCA Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year awards.
In her second season the Lady Vols posted a 29-6 record, captured the SEC Tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Most recently Tennessee tied for the 2014-15 SEC regular season title, returned to the NCAA Elite Eight and finished the season with a 30-6 record.
In addition to being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, which did not compete in the Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott of the Games, Warlick and the 1980 U.S. team won gold at the 1980 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. She also captured a gold medal playing for the USA at the 1979 FIBA World Championship, marking the first gold medal for the USA at the FIBA World Championships since 1957 and breaking a streak of five-straight golds by the USSR, a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games and gold at the 1979 R. William Jones Cup.
McKeown is a 29-year (1986-87 to present) coaching veteran who has compiled a 620-284 (.686) record overall and a 111-110 (.502) record in seven seasons at Northwestern. Prior to his arrival, Northwestern had last advanced to the postseason in 1997, and in just his second year McKeown took NU to the WNIT Sweet 16.
This past season McKeown coached the Wildcats to a 23-9 record, which marked the program's most victories since the 1995-96 season, and NU received a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997. When Northwestern entered the Associated Press top-25 poll for the first time since 1996 in February, McKeown became only the 10th head coach to lead at least three different programs to that distinction having also done so in stops at New Mexico State and George Washington.
"I'm thrilled to share the bench with a gifted coaching staff that includes Holly Warlick and Tanya Warren," McKeown said. "It will provide all three of us with great experiences and allow us to share ideas with one another as we take this team to South Korea. There is a wealth of knowledge on this staff, and we will work hard to represent the United States. I'm already looking forward to training camp, and of course, on to South Korea to go after the gold medal."
In addition to Foster, the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee includes NCAA appointees Melanie Balcomb (Vanderbilt), Lindsay Gottlieb (California) and Joi Williams (UCF); and athlete representative Kara Lawson Barling, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist as well as a Tennessee alum.
USA Basketball women's teams have participated in 17 World University Games and collected a record nine golds, six silvers and one bronze medal. Further, since 1973, the first year the USA women competed in the WUGs, USA women's teams have compiled an overall 101-15 record. The USA has won gold medals in the past five WUGs in which it has competed (2001, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013).
In 2013, led by tournament co-MVP Odyssey Sims, who went on to earn gold as a member of the 2014 USA World Championship Team, the USA won by an average of 34.8 points per game and finished 6-0 to claim the gold medal.
