Coach Kellie Harper

[VolBall09]

20 years of data points tells the story. Kellie is a good person but average coach. Exceptional levels of talent at TN has made her more successful than her average, but she will never be able to rise above it.

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Her record would look better if she had stopped scheduling like a mid-major coach when she took over a P5 program.

Kellie was a P5 player but is a mid-major coach.

 

[Probably_in_Class]

YO means zero to me, KJH recruited only two high school players prior to NIL. If Big Boosters with money are complaining about recruitment, they need to open their pockets and put cash into the program. KJH has do a good job recruiting the portal, lets hope that at least continues.

Let's not kid ourselves. There isn't a ton of NIL money floating around women's basketball. You need to perform before any real NIL deals show up. The Lady Vols of the 90s would have (and deserved to) crushed in NIL sponsorships. If a new coach puts together a team that can compete for titles, the money will absolutely show up. This isn't football though. You can build a top team without millions in NIL.

 

[JohnnyPayne]

I'm kinda new to this board, and as you can see, I post rarely, but do get liked at a pretty high percentage. So, seriously.... are you Kellie or the hubby?

I’m actually Kellie. Nobody notices as I have my phone on me during media timeouts.

 

[Volstylexx]

Her record would look better if she had stopped scheduling like a mid-major coach when she took over a P5 program.

Kellie was a P5 player but is a mid-major coach.

Great point, Volball. I understand why Pat scheduled the best, but a good, new coach understands the wins are better for program growth than the losses. I hate Kim Mulkey but she understood this at LSU. The old argument has always been “those games make you better later in the year” and that clearly isn’t the case with us. She could have scheduled better and been 25-9 this year and few would be calling for her job. All these losses have done is proven that she can’t beat good teams … in year 5 on the job.

 

[VolBall09]

Great point, Volball. I understand why Pat scheduled the best, but a good, new coach understands the wins are better for program growth than the losses. I hate Kim Mulkey but she understood this at LSU. The old argument has always been “those games make you better later in the year” and that clearly isn’t the case with us. She could have scheduled better and been 25-9 this year and few would be calling for her job. All these losses have done is proven that she can’t beat good teams … in year 5 on the job.

Before that can be your strategy you have to prove you CAN GET TO THE END OF THE YEAR. Kellie has never been there so not sure why she’s scheduling like she has.

 

[Golfteacher]

Let's not kid ourselves. There isn't a ton of NIL money floating around women's basketball. You need to perform before any real NIL deals show up. The Lady Vols of the 90s would have (and deserved to) crushed in NIL sponsorships. If a new coach puts together a team that can compete for titles, the money will absolutely show up. This isn't football though. You can build a top team without millions in NIL.

 

[AllVols3]

Lost me at underdogs, tapped out at great effort

We played like Shat in 1st half. That made NC St look better than they are. Live ball TO's killed us in 1sr half. JP cost us a bunch today, with her going rogue several times . In the tournament and games in general your best player needs to touch the ball every possession. Doing that makes it easier for the role players to get shots. Spear is a NO SHOW today, this team couldn't win unless she came to play, again , jmo.

 

[Golfteacher]

I agree 100%, there no way we can base KJH’s poor high school recruiting on lack of NIL money. Her recruitting has been suspect for the last 4 years.

 

[1reVOLver]

I have not joined the ‘fahr Kellie’ crew; next year's results will determine her fate.
But her most ardent supporters might take note of her overall record.

We lost power in an ice storm on Saturday, and internet was gone until about half an hour ago, so I missed our game. I caught the last few minutes of the Syracuse-Uconn game. A real battle.
When Uconn finally prevailed, the announcer remarked that it was 30 straight years going to the Sweet Sixteen for them. I guess that defines high expectations.
ETA- 16 years ago, we, too, were in that conversation.

 

[ThatVolGuy]

If DW wants to make this a program that really honors and lives up to Pat Summit’s legacy and the foundation she built for women’s basketball—not just college basketball, but ALL of women’s basketball—he’s gotta move on from Kellie.

We all love her but she’s very, very obviously not the one. We don’t need another year to find that out. Any other decision is malpractice at this point, especially for a program with this kind of history and fan support. The right coach could have the Lady Vols headed in a positive direction immediately.

 

[Ratvol]

I don’t have an X account but I vote YES. She must be replaced.

 

[Special Ed]

Maybe she and the administration could come to one of those "mutual agreements".

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I don’t have an X account but I vote YES. She must be replaced.

Can u let me know who u would replace her with? And are u ok with us losing Nyla Brooks and Finley Chastain? If the answer is yes, how many years will u be ok while sitting through a rebuild?

 

[Volstylexx]

Can u let me know who u would replace her with? And are u ok with us losing Nyla Brooks and Finley Chastain? If the answer is yes, how many years will u be ok while sitting through a rebuild?

I read a quote the other day (regarding a men’s basketball coach somewhere) that said if the only response is “but who do you go get,” then you’re already past the point of them needing to move on. I think the reasoning there is apathy. I honestly think most sitting P5 coaches could have coached them to a similar record this year. Remember how frustrated we were when our players would play for GENO on the team USA and look like superstars. Coaching matters. The talent on this team was incredible (pre-season #5 for a reason).

There is no rebuild needed here, imo. The brand still commands values and will draw recruits… but our window on that remaining a true statement closes with each passing year.

 

[Majors]

I read a quote the other day (regarding a men’s basketball coach somewhere) that said if the only response is “but who do you go get,” then you’re already past the point of them needing to move on. I think the reasoning there is apathy. I honestly think most sitting P5 coaches could have coached them to a similar record this year. Remember how frustrated we were when our players would play for GENO on the team USA and look like superstars. Coaching matters. The talent on this team was incredible (pre-season #5 for a reason).

There is no rebuild needed here, imo. The brand still commands values and will draw recruits… but our window on that remaining a true statement closes with each passing year.

Apathy is real and has been present for sometime.

 

[Golfteacher]

Does anyone know if Tennessee tried to recruit Sarah Strong 6’ 2” forward from NC? How about Imari Berry? Both are uncommitted.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I read a quote the other day (regarding a men’s basketball coach somewhere) that said if the only response is “but who do you go get,” then you’re already past the point of them needing to move on. I think the reasoning there is apathy. I honestly think most sitting P5 coaches could have coached them to a similar record this year. Remember how frustrated we were when our players would play for GENO on the team USA and look like superstars. Coaching matters. The talent on this team was incredible (pre-season #5 for a reason).

There is no rebuild needed here, imo. The brand still commands values and will draw recruits… but our window on that remaining a true statement closes with each passing year.

I’m not saying one way or another if I want her here or not, I just wanted the question answered about losing those players that are suppose to be coming and look elite.

 

[VolBall09]

Does anyone know if Tennessee tried to recruit Sarah Strong 6’ 2” forward from NC? How about Imari Berry? Both are uncommitted.

She visited recently and the immediately narrowed her list to 3 and it did not include us. So yes, we tried, no she was not interested.

See 2024 recruiting thread for Berry information, lots there on the most recent pages.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I read a quote the other day (regarding a men’s basketball coach somewhere) that said if the only response is “but who do you go get,” then you’re already past the point of them needing to move on. I think the reasoning there is apathy. I honestly think most sitting P5 coaches could have coached them to a similar record this year. Remember how frustrated we were when our players would play for GENO on the team USA and look like superstars. Coaching matters. The talent on this team was incredible (pre-season #5 for a reason).

There is no rebuild needed here, imo. The brand still commands values and will draw recruits… but our window on that remaining a true statement closes with each passing year.

also I didn’t think we was a top 5 team coming into the season, if u go back and look I said 20-25 I didn’t think we had talent outside of Rickea and Spear, and I was pretty consistent with that assessment.Its possible another coach would have ran the entire offense through Rickea and not let her go 5 mins at a time without touching the ball.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Can u let me know who u would replace her with? And are u ok with us losing Nyla Brooks and Finley Chastain? If the answer is yes, how many years will u be ok while sitting through a rebuild?

If you make the right hire, good players will come, whether it be those two or others. Besides, if you keep Harper and next season turns out to be a train wreck, who’s to say they don’t jump ship anyways?

If one or both were 2024 recruits, I would 100% say keep Harper to avoid losing those two. As it is, they still have plenty of time to change their minds, especially if next season is the historic disaster that it has the potential to be. So I don’t think a 2025 commit or 2027 commit should play any part in the decision to keep or move on from Harper.

As far as who you hire, that’s ultimately Danny White’s decision. There are the usual names that get thrown out there, but who of those would be interested is beyond me.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

If you make the right hire, good players will come, whether it be those two or others. Besides, if you keep Harper and next season turns out to be a train wreck, who’s to say they don’t jump ship anyways?

If one or both were 2024 recruits, I would 100% say keep Harper to avoid losing those two. As it is, they still have plenty of time to change their minds, especially if next season is the historic disaster that it has the potential to be. So I don’t think a 2025 commit or 2027 commit should play any part in the decision to keep or move on from Harper.

As far as who you hire, that’s ultimately Danny White’s decision. There are the usual names that get thrown out there, but who of those would be interested is beyond me.

I don’t think it will matter if we struggle, players usually are confident in themselves and think is they come they can help us win. Now on the other hand if we get a great portal haul and start winning, maybe they will say they have no room for me and will go somewhere else, what do u think about that?

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

I don’t think it will matter if we struggle, players usually are confident in themselves and think is they come they can help us win. Now on the other hand if we get a great portal haul and start winning, maybe they will say they have no room for me and will go somewhere else, what do u think about that?

We’ll just have to disagree on that. I think the scenario you described is incredibly unlikely, frankly beyond incredibly unlikely. If they’re as good as advertised, they won’t want to come join a sinking ship when the best of the best are after them. That’s something that we all should have learned by now through football when lame duck head coaches were unable to hold on to their best commits.

 

[turbovol]

Great point, Volball. I understand why Pat scheduled the best, but a good, new coach understands the wins are better for program growth than the losses. I hate Kim Mulkey but she understood this at LSU. The old argument has always been “those games make you better later in the year” and that clearly isn’t the case with us. She could have scheduled better and been 25-9 this year and few would be calling for her job. All these losses have done is proven that she can’t beat good teams … in year 5 on the job.

I'm not sure when the schedule was made but I'm sure there was the expectation that Jackson would be playing early in the season. Without her we of course were going to have problems against strong teams.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

We’ll just have to disagree on that. I think the scenario you described is incredibly unlikely, frankly beyond incredibly unlikely. If they’re as good as advertised, they won’t want to come join a sinking ship when the best of the best are after them. That’s something that we all should have learned by now through football when lame duck head coaches were unable to hold on to their best commits.

I’ll have a better answer after I see our portal haul.

 

[Volstylexx]

Game has been over for hours and still no tweet from Donde or Danny…

And yet they were both tweeting about TN sports not long ago….