Coach Kellie Harper

[VolFuture]

Where are we seeded for the SEC tournament?

Doesn’t matter. Guess you don’t understand how ties work. Kinda embarrassing

 

[RAVOL]

Interesting as to what we have learned today at least on this board that the fanbase is split right down the middle on the question. So even if she gets to come back looks like a do or die situation next season for her. A tough place to be in when you don't have the roster you need and will have to find it in the portal in the next couple of months. If the portal turns out to be a bust then next season is going to be brutal for us fans and certainly if this coaching staff returns to get through the season.

There is no doubt she will have to lighten up schedule because Roster were it sits now of who can come back is not Top 4 SEC . Until we see additions through Portal just can't pick any higher as you have no one who can get there own shot without help. In CHRIST Alone

 

[orangefloyd]

Let’s say they fire her and bring in a new coach, and let’s say this coach doesn’t have any elite players on their team to bring with them, and we lose our incoming recruits. So that means we will start all over, how many years are u willing to wait while we are bad?

Well we are up to about 14 years of bad now. Still waiting. Fulmer won’t be hiring the next coach.

 

[VolBall09]

I predict Harper comes back and next year is more of the same and possibly a little worse.

Fans of the LVs want this program to be a top 5, at worst top 10 team that competes for the SEC title and FF/E8 spots. Those won't happen under Harper. She's had 5 years and while she hasn't been all bad there is seemingly no progress towards those goals. I don't think another year changes her results no matter who she brings in from the portal.

Also I agree, who would step into this situation? I see some great coaches out there but would many of them leave their current situations? Probably not unless significant money was thrown their way and frankly the department doesn't appear to put as much of an emphasis on WBB as before.

If she is back next year it’s going to be more than “a little worse” if we don’t have the #1 portal class including a 5 star PG and 5 stars center we will be bottom 1/3 of the new sec and likely sub .500 next season.

I imagine she will schedule really weak next year if she’s brought back, a “save your job” kind of schedule.

 

[Majors]

Doesn’t matter. Guess you don’t understand how ties work. Kinda embarrassing

Oh it matters. Embarrassing is embracing a tie, while we don’t get the double bye. Meaning we got 5th by default.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

I love all the celebrating about breaking the SC double point margin win streak when we lost by 8 and with one more basket the streak would have been intact.

Is the celebration of an 8 point loss really the definition of mediocre, I am sure Pat is rolling over in her grave at those celebrations.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I love all the celebrating about breaking the SC double point margin win streak when we lost by 8 and with one more basket the streak would have been intact.

Is the celebration of an 8 point loss really the definition of mediocre, I am sure Pat is rolling over in her grave at those celebrations.

U didn’t see me celebrate, im pissed off we loss a game we should have won.

 

[VolBall09]

I love all the celebrating about breaking the SC double point margin win streak when we lost by 8 and with one more basket the streak would have been intact.

Is the celebration of an 8 point loss really the definition of mediocre, I am sure Pat is rolling over in her grave at those celebrations.

Poor Pat I hope she has some sort of pulley and lever system to help her roll over because lord knows she’s been in the spin cycle since about 2014.

 

[FormerLadyVolFan]

Holly was not a great recruiter. When she lost Jolette Law to South Carolina is when things went south.

Samantha Williams was the recruiter that built Louisville/Jeff Walz's roster. She does a fantastic job in recruiting and evaluation for Kellie, but can not close due to the lack of NIL money!

Until we can get major donors involved in NIL, we are where we are. As Angel Reese said to some fans at the UT/LSU game "Get your money up!"

And Holly Warlick was the opposite. It's too bad Kellie couldn't have just hired Holly as her top assistant to recruit.

 

[turbovol]

Let’s say they fire her and bring in a new coach, and let’s say this coach doesn’t have any elite players on their team to bring with them, and we lose our incoming recruits. So that means we will start all over, how many years are u willing to wait while we are bad?

How many years have we given Harper? Five, so far. You'd probably give a new coach at least four years. By year three one should get a sense
of which way the team/program is trending. How is HS recruiting? How is portal recruiting? How is the team playing--is it winning? Are we trending upward or no? And then by the next year or two you've got a real sense of what you've got.

Harper has not been bad but she's not been good either. I'd rate her overall performance as a C. High-school recruiting---D-. Portal recruiting: B.
Coaching/development/culture: C, maybe C+. Her record against top 20 opponents is, I think, bad. If I were the AD, my standard would be: get us back to being a national-title contender. She's not done that and I can't envision her doing that. She hasn't moved the needle much.

All this said, I'd be shocked if Harper were let go. White has given her two one-year extensions, plus pay raises, in each of the last two years--the last in June of 2023. Her current contract runs through 2028! Her original contract stipulated that is she were terminated without cause, she'd be paid all money due to her through the end date of the contract. If that provision remains in place, the school's buyout could be considerable--about $4 million, maybe (don't hold me to this number) given that her total compensation now is $1.1 million a year. Given that the team/program hasn't been bad (just not particularly good), and given that he's just given her extensions and pay raises, I can't see White doing anything. The only way he might be bold enough to make a change is if he had another coach in mind whom he was confident could take us to the next level, and I doubt that is the case. Muddle on!

 

[JohnWardForever]

Am I bored? Yes...

 

[turbovol]

Ignorance in this thread is outstanding, but who wants to let get facts in the way of drive-by nega-vols? Holly was not a great recruiter. When she lost Jolette Law to South Carolina is when things went south.

Samantha Williams was the recruiter that built Louisville/Jeff Walz's roster. She does a fantastic job in recruiting and evaluation for Kellie, but can not close due to the lack of NIL money!

Until we can get major donors involved in NIL, we are where we are. As Angel Reese said to some fans at the UT/LSU last game "Get your money up!"

Get NIL out of recruiting. It's corrupt nonsense. Paying big money to high-schoolers with the hope that they'll become good college players, when half of them won't? It's total BS. The activists are always looking for money for nothing. Bribing kids to sign with your school is not what college is supposed to be about. If that's what it has become, shame! They get a free college education--a huge benefit every other college student in America would be thrilled to have. Instead, most regular students have to take out loans to earn a college degree.

 

[FormerLadyVolFan]

I don't disagree, but we are where we are. We either compete with the LSU's of the NIL world or we get get left behind. Coach Sam does have some top high schoolers lined for the next few recruiting classes that it probably won't matter to, but most of the rest want the money...and you can't blame most of them.

Get NIL out of recruiting. It's corrupt nonsense. Paying big money to high-schoolers with the hope that they'll become good college players, when half of them won't? It's total BS. The activists are always looking for money for nothing. Bribing kids to sign with your school is not what college is supposed to be about. If that's what it has become, shame! They get a free college education--a huge benefit every other college student in America would be thrilled to have. Instead, most regular students have to take out loans to earn a college degree.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Not to mention we paid for a Top 5 portal class last season.

You say that like you have access to the NIL ledger.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Ignorance in this thread is outstanding, but who wants to let get facts in the way of drive-by nega-vols? Holly was not a great recruiter. When she lost Jolette Law to South Carolina is when things went south.

Samantha Williams was the recruiter that built Louisville/Jeff Walz's roster. She does a fantastic job in recruiting and evaluation for Kellie, but can not close due to the lack of NIL money!

Until we can get major donors involved in NIL, we are where we are. As Angel Reese said to some fans at the UT/LSU game "Get your money up!"

Sorry to set you off. My point was that Holly always had a bunch of McD's AAs, but couldn't coach them up, while Kellie seems to be a good X's and O's coach, but doesn't recruit at all. So it would be nice if we could combine them. Please forgive my ignorance of who was responsible for Holly's top recruits.

And that's the first time I've been called drive-by or NegaVol. I'm actually the opposite of both. Crazy you got all that from one post, Earl.

 

[FormerLadyVolFan]

Sorry to have lumped you in with the negavols that have filled this thread with misinformation and vitrol. My apologies - I corrected my post.

Sorry to set you off. My point was that Holly always had a bunch of McD's AAs, but couldn't coach them up, while Kellie seems to be a good X's and O's coach, but doesn't recruit at all. So it would be nice if we could combine them. Please forgive my ignorance of who was responsible for Holly's top recruits.

And that's the first time I've been called drive-by or NegaVol. I'm actually the opposite of both. Crazy you got all that from one post, Earl.

 

[gule]

Don't Worry, Be Happy! like we new south cacklainions who have a new undefeated n24 banner to put up... lol Go Dawn Staley, Go dawn staley!!!!! GO Go Go!

 

[Shadowboxer]

Yet another bad Fulmer hire. Let her go and let's get a good coach.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

How many years have we given Harper? Five, so far. You'd probably give a new coach at least four years. By year three one should get a sense
of which way the team/program is trending. How is HS recruiting? How is portal recruiting? How is the team playing--is it winning? Are we trending upward or no? And then by the next year or two you've got a real sense of what you've got.

Harper has not been bad but she's not been good either. I'd rate her overall performance as a C. High-school recruiting---D-. Portal recruiting: B.
Coaching/development/culture: C, maybe C+. Her record against top 20 opponents is, I think, bad. If I were the AD, my standard would be: get us back to being a national-title contender. She's not done that and I can't envision her doing that. She hasn't moved the needle much.

All this said, I'd be shocked if Harper were let go. White has given her two one-year extensions, plus pay raises, in each of the last two years--the last in June of 2023. Her current contract runs through 2028! Her original contract stipulated that is she were terminated without cause, she'd be paid all money due to her through the end date of the contract. If that provision remains in place, the school's buyout could be considerable--about $4 million, maybe (don't hold me to this number) given that her total compensation now is $1.1 million a year. Given that the team/program hasn't been bad (just not particularly good), and given that he's just given her extensions and pay raises, I can't see White doing anything. The only way he might be bold enough to make a change is if he had another coach in mind whom he was confident could take us to the next level, and I doubt that is the case. Muddle on!

That’s why I would only want a coaching change if the coach brings elite talent with them, nobody wants to sit around another 4-5 years through mediocrity.

 

[Lucy]

This needs to be removed right now!!
Ridiculous and a disservice to our program!!!!!!

 

[Lucy]

Just a quick poll to see how this board stands on whether Coach Harper should return as coach or we should go in a different direction. On facebook looks like the support is more for her to return than to be fired. I would say there about 70 to 30 for return. Will be informative to know how this board feels about her staying or leaving.

My own personal view is return based on the potential for a top ten 2025 class which may or may not develop. I know were in one players top two and Brooks who to me is a top ten in the 2025 class is already a commit. I also base my vote on the expectations that there will be some upgrades of the roster through the portal mainly post players and an elite point guard. If none of this happens then my vote would change, but this is about right now. You only get one vote so consider your choice carefully. Thanks for participating.

This is a travesty! I can’t believe anyone would put this crap out there!!!!!!!!

 

[glv98]

That’s why I would only want a coaching change if the coach brings elite talent with them, nobody wants to sit around another 4-5 years through mediocrity.

Exactly. And why I said an up and comer wouldn’t be better. Can’t take a chance on another 4 or 5 years of no progress. Get NIL right and hire big, however long it takes.

 

[Majors]

Holly was not a great recruiter. When she lost Jolette Law to South Carolina is when things went south.

Samantha Williams was the recruiter that built Louisville/Jeff Walz's roster. She does a fantastic job in recruiting and evaluation for Kellie, but can not close due to the lack of NIL money!

Until we can get major donors involved in NIL, we are where we are. As Angel Reese said to some fans at the UT/LSU game "Get your money up!"

Spin it! You’ll have some actually believe you.

 

[Rooster1]

There are about 350 D1 teams. We have a solid five year record of being in the top
10%. The Elite 8 includes the top 2%. If we like the status quo, we have a coach who
can keep us there. If we aspire to something better, and most of us seem to want that,
then we either have to (1) find enough NIL incentives to buy better players, or (2) change horses. (3) is “both of the above”.

Optimism says (1) will do it.
Pessimism points to (3).

If every sport at UT is collecting top talent from HS except the WBB program, is it really NIL$? If so, why is that one sport the laggard? Is the problem caused by lack of fan support to the WBB collectives, or is it caused by a University directive on where those funds should be dispersed to, or perhaps the collectives themselves have decided that WBB is not the place for an investment? You tell me, but most of this NIL/Collective discussion that goes on is based entirely on rumors and projections at this point. I do know this, of the funds available to WBB from all sources, it appears the decision was made to spend the bulk of that money on transfer players the past 2-3 years.

I am one of those people anxiously awaiting the day these ”payments” become transparent, if ever, because I believe most fans will be amazed that many of their thoughts on this matter were based upon wrong assumptions.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Get NIL out of recruiting. It's corrupt nonsense. Paying big money to high-schoolers with the hope that they'll become good college players, when half of them won't? It's total BS. The activists are always looking for money for nothing. Bribing kids to sign with your school is not what college is supposed to be about. If that's what it has become, shame! They get a free college education--a huge benefit every other college student in America would be thrilled to have. Instead, most regular students have to take out loans to earn a college degree.

You forgot the mic drop.