Massengale, Meighan Simmons and Taber Spani.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES Head coach Emeritus Pat Summitt and former Lady Vol player Michelle Marciniak were inducted into the Tennessee Lady Vol Hall of Fame on Nov. 2. There is a 10-year post-career waiting period for student-athletes and a five-year period for coaches and staff, but the selection committee voted to waive that requirement for Summitt. Summitt and Marciniak join Holly Warlick and a host of other hoops heroines in UT’s women’s sports hall. Warlick was inducted as a player in the 2002 class.
RETIRED #22 JERSEY FOR HOLLY Holly Warlick already had her #22 jersey retired at UT, and she added another retired #22 this fall. On Oct. 26 at a home football game, Knoxville’s Bearden High School retired her basketball jersey. A number of family, friends, colleagues, basketball staff and players and former high school coach Buddy Fisher were on hand for the special occasion. Warlick was a two-sport star who graduated in 1976 and came to Tennessee on a track scholarship. She walked on to the basketball team and went on to become a three-time All-American on the hardwood for Pat Summitt.
NEW FACES, NEW ROLES In addition to Holly Warlick filling the head coaching position and Pat Summitt working in the role of head coach emeritus, there are other changes to the staff. Former Lady Vol player (1996-2001) Kyra Elzy returned to UT as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator after spending the past four seasons coaching at Kentucky and serving as recruiting coordinator. Former Iowa standout and Harlem Globetrotter Jolette Law is UT’s second new assistant coach. Known as a key contributor to Rutgers’ success during her 12 seasons there, Law most recently served as head coach at Illinois from 2007-12. Elzy and Law fill the spots previously occupied by Warlick and Mickie DeMoss, who left after last season to take an assistant coaching job with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Veteran assistant Dean Lockwood is back for his ninth year with the Lady Volunteers.
ONLY THREE IN UPPERCLASS Tennessee has only two seniors this season, including 6-1 guard/forward Taber Spani and 5-11 guard Kamiko Williams. Both missed time with injuries last season. The junior class consists of Meighan Simmons, a 5-9 guard who started 22 games last season and played in all 36. There are three sophomore returnees, including 6-2 forward Cierra Burdick, 6-3 center Isabelle Harrison and 5-6 point guard Ariel Massengale. Burdick played in all 36 games as a rookie and got three starts, Massengale played in 33 contests and started 24, while Harrison had 31 appearances without a start. Tennessee also welcomes 5-10 sopho-
more Jasmine Phillips and freshmen Andraya Carter (5-9, point guard), Bashaara Graves (6-2 forward/center), Jasmine Jones (6-2 forward) and Nia Moore (6-3 center).
A LOOK BACK TO 2011-12 UT FINISHES IN ELITE EIGHT
EXPERIENCED RETURNEES Sophomore Ariel Massengale, junior Meighan Simmons and seniors Taber Spani and Kamiko Williams possess some decent experience for Tennessee. Massengale was UT’s starting point guard in 24 games a year ago, while Simmons got the nod 22 times and Spani was on the floor for tipoff on 15 occasions despite dealing with a nagging knee injury. Sophomores Cierra Burdick and Isabelle Harrison didn’t have the accolades their classmate Massengale did in 2011-12, but their experience should have them prepared to play more considerable roles in 2012-13.
SENIORS GRADUATE EARLY Seniors Taber Spani and Kamiko Williams already have earned their degrees. Spani completed her degree in communication studies in August and now is pursuing a master’s in kinesiology with a concentration in sports psychology and motor behavior. Williams earned a degree in sociology/ criminal justice in spring 2012 and is working on a second undergraduate degree in psychology. Both kept UT’s 100-percent graduation rate perfect.
WARLICK HAS FIVE NEWCOMERS Tennessee signed three players early last year and added two more over the summer. The early signees included 6-2 forward/ center Bashaara Graves (Clarksville, Tenn./ Clarksville H.S.), 5-9 point guard Andraya Carter (Flowery Branch, Ga./Buford H.S.) and 6-2 forward Jasmine Jones (Madison, Ala./Bob Jones H.S.). Graves, Carter and Jones ranked No. 5, No. 21 and No. 39 on the HoopGurlz 2012 ESPNU 100 Rankings. Jones’ mom, Latrish Jones, played basketball at Alabama during the late 1990s. Warlick added 5-10 guard Jasmine Phillips (Hartsville, S.C./Hartsville H.S./Louisburg, N.C. College) and 6-3 center Nia Moore (Chicago, Ill./Bolingbrook H.S.) on May 22 and May 25, respectively. Phillips was a JUCO All-American at Louisburg College. Moore, who originally signed with Illinois and was granted a release, was a three-star recruit, according to HoopGurlz. She played at Bolingbrook High School along with current UT teammate Ariel Massengale.
SEC GROWS, TOURNAMENT EXPANDS The SEC adds Missouri and Texas A&M this season, bringing the total of league teams to 14. Each program will play a 16-team league schedule. The 2013 SEC Tournament will be held in Duluth, Ga., at the Arena at the Gwinnett Center, March 6-10. The tournament, which had been a fourday event featuring 12 teams, has expanded to 14 teams, adding an extra day of competition. The tournament will now begin on Wednesday with two additional games that feature Seeds 11 through 14.
2012-13 LADY VOL BASKETBALL » UTSPORTS.COM » @LADYVOL_HOOPS
During a difficult and emotionallycharged season, with speculation in the air about how much longer Pat Summitt would coach, Tennessee was somehow able to focus on the task at hand and finish with a 27-9 overall record and 12-4 SEC mark, good for second in the league standings. The Lady Vols recorded their 36th-consecutive campaign with 20 or more wins and made the NCAA tournament field for the 31st-straight season. The Lady Vols reeled off NCAA tournament wins over UT Martin (72-49) and #23 DePaul (63-48) in Chicago NCAA First/Second Round games. Tennessee advanced to the Des Moines Regional, where the Big Orange turned back Kansas, 84-73, in the Sweet 16. Appearing in its 25th NCAA Regional Final, Tennessee saw its season, and Summitt’s head coaching career as it turned out, come to an end in the Elite Eight. Eventual NCAA champ Baylor proved too much to overcome, prevailing, 77-58, in Des Moines. The Lady Vols ended the year ranked number nine in the AP poll and seventh in the USA Today/ESPN rankings. Seniors Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen were named to the NCAA All-Regional Team for their play in Des Moines.
SEC TOURNEY CHAMPS AGAIN For the third-consecutive season, Tennessee reigned as SEC Tournament champions, defeating LSU in the final, 70-58, in front of a partisan Big Orange crowd of 12,441 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. It marked the 16th tourney trophy that UT had won since the event first was held in 1980. The Lady Vols also knocked off #25 South Carolina in the semifinals, 74-58, and defeated Vanderbilt, 68-57, in the quarterfinal round. Seniors Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen were named to the SEC All-Tournament Team, and Johnson walked away with SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player accolades. Johnson’s MVP recognition marked the third-straight year a Lady Vol won, as she followed Stricklen in 2011 and Alyssia Brewer in 2010.
FOUR TAKEN IN WNBA DRAFT Lady Vols Shekinna Stricklen, Glory Johnson and Kelley Cain (finished UT career in 2010-11) were all taken in the first round and Vicki Baugh was selected in the third round of the 2012 WNBA Draft presented by Boost Mobile, on Monday, April 16, at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. It was the best first-round showing ever in the draft for Tennessee with three players taken. The Lady Vols had two first-round selections in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2008. In all, 15 UT players have been first-round WNBA picks on draft day. Stricklen was taken by Seattle with the second pick, Johnson went to Tulsa on the fourth pick, and Cain was taken by New York at No. 7. Baugh was drafted by Tulsa in the third round with the event’s 25th selection. Johnson, a 6-3 forward, made the 2012 WNBA All-Rookie Team. She averaged 11.5