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(WVLT) – It's the end of an era for Lady Flights.
Chris Low, sports contributor and author of ESPN, confirms that Tennessee is separate from head coach, longtime assistant and legendary player Holly Warlick.
The news was announced Wednesday afternoon with a statement from the university soon after.
Phillip Fulmer said: "Holly and I met this afternoon and I informed her of the decision to change leadership within the program."
"Holly has spent most of her adult life at the University of Tennessee and the Lady Flights program, she loves Tennessee, and Tennessee must always love her in return. of this program, which has become the model of women's intercollegiate excellence. "
"While making this decision is decisive," said Fulmer, "I am responsible for doing what I believe best for this historic program.It is important for all of us that the Lady Vols basketball maintains its status among the best. elite".
From star of the Bearden High School circuit to three-time All-American on hardwood playing for the Lady Flights, through the head coach under one of the greatest college coaches of all time, Holly Warlick has quite his CV. Warlick was, according to his profile, the first player in the history of UT athletics to have his jersey removed at the end of his career.
She was named a member of the US Olympic Team in 1980. In 1994, she was inducted into the Grand Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. In 2001, she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. she was inducted into the Lady Volley Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
No wonder Pat Summitt chose Warlick to succeed him when she entrusted one of the best basketball programs of the modern era.
On April 18, 2012, Pat Summitt handed the whistle to Warlick while she was resigning for medical reasons. Summitt passed away in 2016.
Warlick started warmly by winning the 2013 regular season championship and winning the 2014 SEC championship. The Lady Vols added another regular season title in 2015. Like Pat Summitt, Warlick's style was tough but effective as she sent eleven players to the WNBA draft including Diamond DeShields, Mercedes Russell, Isabelle Harrison, Ariel Massengale, Isabelle Harrison and Cierra Burdick.
Even in the classroom, Holly and her staff continued the tradition of training 100% of the players who participated in the program.
After a season of 30 victories in 2014, the program began to decline. The team has not finished better than 4th place in the SEC since the 2015-2016 season. Which, in the case of Lady Vol Basketball, is something out of the norm for a program that never finished below 5th place under Pat Summitt.
The 2018-2019 season was the turning point in Holly's tenure as head coach. The team had a six-game losing streak in the middle of the season and was immediately recognized as a team that could not compete in the NCAA women's tournament. After finding the pace after the losing streak, the Lady Vols then lost three consecutive games before imposing in the final of the season against Ole Miss who finished the season 19-12 (7-9 SEC ).
After the fall of Lady Vols against UCLA, Warlick asked the media: "Do I want to continue coaching? Yes, but if we have to go in a different direction, it's not mine. to decide."
Lady Flights sitter Evina Westbrook also spoke to the media: "Action needs to be taken with our staff."
On March 27, at around 3:30 pm, Phillip Fulmer was seen entering the studios of Ray and Lucy Hand, where UT representatives usually hold press conferences.
Lady Vol Athletics Director Emeritus Joan Cronan declined to comment on the situation.
The program will look for its third head coach in the modern day of women's basketball. According to a report, the search for coaches could lead to Louisville; However, the head coach of their women's basketball program, Jeff Walz, said on March 27, before the announcement of Warlick's departure, that "their work is not open. worry about it, and we will focus on our basketball team. "
According to the press release, assistant coach Dean Lockwood will maintain "operational oversight" until a hiring is done.
Coaching opportunities
Despite his denials, Walz remains a possibility for the vacancy. Walz started coaching Louisville in 2007, and his team is currently no. 1 seed, and they did the Final Four last year. This season, his team is 31-3. Up to here, his career is from 322 to 97 in Louisville.
Missouri State Head Coach Kellie Jolly Harper is another possibility. She played for the Lady Flights as a guard and played an important role in the consecutive national championships that the team had staged in the mid-90s. They played against Stanford at the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
For coaching research, follow WVLT for continuous updates.
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