University of Tennessee Athletics
@LadyVol_Hoops Report (10/4/16)
October 04, 2016 | Women's Basketball
WARLICK PRESSER l FEATURE VIDEO l SEASON PROSPECTUS l SCHEDULE
Fifth year Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick met with the media Tuesday afternoon, sharing her thoughts on the 2016-17 Lady Vol basketball team's first preseason workout a day earlier.
Warlick welcomes back eight letterwinners from a year ago, including four starters, from a 22-14 squad that closed the year with the team's third NCAA Elite appearance in the last four seasons. Warlick, 108-34 entering her fifth season as head coach, is one of only two NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches to take three squads to Elite Eights in her first four seasons as a head coach. Retired Louisiana Tech legend Leon Barmore is the other.
Leading Tennessee's cast of returning starters is AP All-SEC Second Team performer Diamond DeShields, a 6-1 redshirt junior guard who averaged 14.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 2015-16 after transferring from North Carolina. DeShields appears to have fully-regained her health and extraordinary hoops abilities after being hampered by injury most of last season.
Others back from the starting lineup include 6-6 redshirt junior center Mercedes Russell (9.9 ppg., 8.3 rpg., 1.8 bpg.), 6-2 junior forward Jaime Nared (8.3 ppg., 4.8 rpg.) and 5-11 senior point guard Jordan Reynolds (4.8 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 2.6 apg.). Returning reserves are 6-2 junior forward Kortney Dunbar (3.5 ppg., 1.4 rpg.), 5-9 junior guard Alexa Middleton (3.0 ppg., 1.2 rpg.) and 5-11 sophomore guard Meme Jackson (1.0 ppg., 0.6 rpg.).
Schaquilla Nunn, a 6-3 forward and graduate transfer from Winthrop University (13.7 ppg., 11.3 rpg.), is expected to provide immediate help inside, as is 6-3 freshman center Kamera Harris (12.4 ppg., 9.9 rpg., 8.6 bpg.).
Sophomore point guard Te'a Cooper (8.6 ppg., 1.9 rpg., 2.3 apg.), who was expected to play a key role this season, is out for the year with a knee injury. Cheridene Green, a 6-3 junior college All-America forward, also will miss the campaign with a knee injury. She averaged 20.5 ppg. and 16.5 rpg. last season before getting hurt.
In the offseason, Tennessee welcomed new assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Sharrona Reaves, a 1995 graduate of Alabama. She replaced Kyra Elzy. Reaves, a veteran of the coaching ranks as an assistant and head coach, most recently served on the staff as an assistant at West Virginia.
The Lady Vols, who are ranked between No. 13 and No. 16 in several early preseason polls, play their lone exhibition game on Nov. 7 vs. Carson-Newman (7 p.m. ET) and travel to 2016 NCAA Tournament participant James Madison on Nov. 11 (7 p.m. ET) for the season opener. Navy comes to Knoxville for the home opener on Nov. 13 (2 p.m.).
Holly Warlick's Opening Statement
"Thank you all for coming. It's really, really exciting. It seems like we just finished in South Dakota. We had the first practice yesterday; we played extremely hard and had great leadership. I will say this, the difference right now in us from last year is we have tremendous leadership from our upperclassmen. Jordan Reynolds has just been phenomenal. Diamond DeShields and Jaime Nared...they've don't a great job of leading this basketball team. Everybody is getting a chance to play since our (roster) numbers are low. Everyone gets that opportunity, and I'm pleased with that. Are we where we want to be condition-wise? Absolutely not. I thought it was important for us to work on different things, and I wasn't really worried about us being out of shape right now. I was very concerned about the wear-and-tear on our bodies, so we did some different things instead of getting up and down in the summer and the fall. So I would say one thing we are lacking is being in shape, but I think the talent level is sticking out. I am just excited about the season."
On Impact Of Last Season's Elite Eight Run
"That's a great question. I think it was a major impact on us. I think you saw us turn the corner. Our leadership stepped up. I think that we saw the outcome of people leading, people listening and playing hard. I think it had a major effect on what we did this summer. It was probably one of the best summers we've had as far as dedicating to get better, doing things as a team and just all-around wanting to improve their game. This fall has been something different that we haven't seen with the togetherness. There's a feel right now with this basketball team, and I can't explain it. I think last year at times, everybody felt a little bit of disconnect. You don't feel a disconnect with this team, and that's a great thing. That starts with great leadership and people buying into the system. I think right now they are doing just that."
On Improved Leadership
"I think what's better and what's different is we are more vocal. We are playing hard in every drill. People are listening, and it's not a leadership where I'm telling you what to do. It's a supportive leadership and it is part of a feel. I love the effort and the communication that we are having. It's really positive, if it is talking among each other, you don't feel like it's a put-down or a negative. It's more so them helping each other. That's probably what I mean the most. It's a feel of....we ended on a great note, and let's carry that into this season."
