WOMENS BASKETBALL

Holly Warlick's top priority is Lady Vols' improvement, not job status

Dan Fleser
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Holly Warlick put the team ahead of herself when the Tennessee women’s basketball coach prioritized her concerns for next season.

“As far as myself, look I’m not going into this year thinking, ‘You know what, you better win or you’re going to lose your job,’ " Warlick said.

“I’m going into this season (thinking) how can I get this group better? How can I get this team more focused? How can we all be on the same page?”

Warlick was speaking Thursday in a media availability session at the Ray and Lucy Hand Studio. She addressed players and circumstances that could assist in bouncing back from an erratic 20-12 season. The Lady Vols were bounced in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Because Tennessee has suffered 26 losses in the past two seasons, improvement is essential to drawing attention away from Warlick.

"Don't twist my words when I said I knew what I was getting into," said Warlick, who just finished her fifth season as UT's head coach. "Yeah, I did. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But I'm doing it the way I think it's going to get done. We're going to move this program forward."

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA tournament brackets, scores, schedules, teams and more.

Toward that end, the return of Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell ought to help. The redshirt juniors opted to use their final seasons of collegiate eligibility rather than enter the WNBA draft. They were the Lady Vols' top two scorers last season, averaging 17.4 and 16.1 points per game, respectively.

Warlick said she spoke with both players beforehand and gave them information. DeShields and Russell took the process from there.

"Really, really glad they did their homework and they didn't react after the end of our season," Warlick said. "They did their due diligence."

DeShields included Tennessee's four incoming freshmen — Evina Westbrook, Anastasia Hayes, Rennia Davis and Kasi Kushkituah — in her decision making, saying her first priority was "giving these four young ladies an opportunity to be themselves, make mistakes and still have the love they need and deserve."

"When you do that, you put yourself out there," Warlick said. "Whatever you're asking of them, you have to do yourself.

"But I think all of our players feel that. I don't want to say it's an obligation. I think they all feel that need to bring these freshmen along. I think it started with us recruiting them and these kids getting to know all of our players. I think it's about relationships and wanting to see these kids be successful."

Of the freshmen, Warlick said: "We need them. As you all know, our numbers were down. We need them."

On other topics:

  • Warlick anticipates guard Te'a Cooper and center Cheridene Green to be ready for fall practice after undergoing knee surgeries last year. Both players sat out last season. Warlick said Cooper was ahead of Green in terms of recovery. But both can't take contact yet.
  • Postseason meetings with the players are ongoing and Warlick doesn't anticipate any departures, at least not now. "My first reaction is they're all coming back, but who knows," she said. "I feel good about it."
  • Warlick referred to new athletic director John Currie as "high energy" and said, "He's coming in here and wanting our programs to be successful. I don't think he's coming in here with the thought of 'you know what, I'm going to run everyone out and get who I want in here.' "

Tennessee coach Holly Warlick is thinking about the Lady Vols' improvement above anything or anyone else, including herself.