University of Tennessee Athletics
Warlick Presser 11.16.18
November 16, 2018 | Women's Basketball
Tennessee Lady Volunteers Head Coach Holly Warlick:
On bringing in three consecutive top-10 recruiting classes:
"I think we identify talent early. What do we need next year? What do we need two years from now? So, we try to identify that. I think our staff does a great job of identifying, getting out and seeing kids, building relationships, and that is what recruiting is all about, seeing who fits in your system and building a relationship. We are paying a lot more attention to it, what drives us is recruiting. You have to have the players to win, and we understand that. We have made that a priority, and it has paid off for us."
On the role current players have in recruiting new talent:
"You have to have players that aren't looking from within; they're not thinking, 'If we get this young lady, they're going to take my spot.' You've got to have kids on this team that are confident, love this program and are willing to do things for the program and the team. These kids that we have here, they are very team-oriented. I'm not going to say they don't get upset on an individual level of things, but they know kids out there; they want to play with certain kids, and they're going to recruit them. They want talent because they want to win. And our young ladies understand it's not about one or two people, we've got to surround ourselves with a lot of talent."
On No. 2 overall player Jordan Horston:
"You look at Jordan, a kid who has been here a couple of times before her official visit, which always helps. We spent a lot of time with her. Sharrona Reeves did a great job with her in recruiting her and staying on her, and our kids loved her, absolutely loved her, so that's the big thing. Tamari Key, she's the same way; she had been here a couple of times. So, when it came time for her to sign, she was the same way. She came in, she fit in. Emily Saunders as well, she was in early. So, when you get those kids here early and they can visit a couple of times, that's special. That means you've done a really good job of getting them here and getting their interest."
On what excites her about the trio:
"Jordan is just a natural born leader to me. (She) can play every position on the court. She's not a big, strong inside five player, but (she) can post up. I just love her mannerisms of getting everybody involved. She's a true team player that is an unbelievable basketball player. Tamari Key is just an athletic, tall, a huge wide wingspan, and blocking shots is her forte. It's going to be really good inside. (She) can run the floor, and she was one of the main kids we went after, and we needed her. We were excited when we got her. Emily Saunders is the same thing. She's a little bit bigger than Tamari, huge wingspan, blocks shots, and both of those players played volleyball. I always say I love big kids that play volleyball because they know how to block shots and not foul. I love that, and Emily too, can get up the floor for her size. Our needs were a point guard that could go one, two, three, and that was Jordan. We needed some bigs, and we got those in Tamari and Emily."
On how tough it is to find players with volleyball backgrounds:
"It kind of is (tough). A lot of them continue just to play volleyball. I love it. Isabelle Harrison was a volleyball player and a great shot blocker for us. So was Ashley Robinson, so those type of kids know how to jump straight up."
On Key's shot blocking abilities:
"It's the timing thing too, and she's got long arms; she loves doing it. A lot of times when kids are big, they don't want to do it; she does. She loves to hunt for blocked shots, so she makes up for a lot of errors in the open court when they come inside to block it."
On the possibility of redshirting Saunders:
"We're just going to wait and see. Right now, we're counting on her to play."
On how big-time recruits change the team:
"You have to have a team that is willing to put themselves aside and say, 'We need you,' and not be an individual and worry about their playing time. Our team has done that, but yes, it helps. It helps that we have the crowd, the exposure we have, all that helps. So, we're going to continue to get kids in here that are going to play hard and play the way we want them to play. When you do that, when you get kids that play your style and what you want, you've got something special."
WBB | Highlights: Lady Vols 89, Southern Indiana 44 (12.22.25)
Monday, December 22
WBB | Kim Caldwell, Alyssa Latham & Mia Pauldo Postgame vs. Southern Indiana (12.22.25)
Monday, December 22
WBB | Highlights: Lady Vols 65, Louisville 89 (12.20.25)
Saturday, December 20
WBB | Kim Caldwell & Zee Spearman Postgame vs. Louisville (12.20.25)
Saturday, December 20
