The most effective gamers in Tennessee girls’s basketball historical past

Tennessee was really the third college that Roberts performed for throughout her collegiate profession. Nevertheless, her solely season with the Volunteers was one for the ages as the first Black player in the history of the Lady Vols’ program. In Roberts’ first sport at Tennessee towards Kentucky, she posted 51 factors — nonetheless a college single-game document — and 20 rebounds. Later that season, the All-American additionally set the college single-game document with 24 rebounds. Her 987 factors, 29.9 scoring common, and 14.2 rebounds per sport from 1976-77 all stay college information.

Brogdon’s faculty basketball profession started at Mercer, however she ultimately discovered her option to Knoxville to star for the Vols in her ultimate two seasons. Brogdon’s 20.8 profession scoring common ranks second all-time in class historical past, whereas her 784 complete factors rank fifth amongst all Tennessee gamers. Brogdon was additionally among the finest free-throw shooters in Vols historical past, making 83.9 p.c of her makes an attempt from the stripe — fourth all-time at Tennessee.

The primary of six Tennessee gamers to have her jersey retired by this system, Warlick is basically a Volunteers lifer. Born in Knoxville, Warlick walked on on the Tennessee program, after which turned a three-time All-American for Pat Summitt, whom she succeeded as Vols coach. 

Whereas not identified for her scoring capability, Warlick ranks second in class historical past with 673 assists. She additionally ranks ninth with 250 profession steals, however her 3.2 help common and 141 steals from 1978-79 are one of the best all-time from any Woman Volunteer. An extended-time assistant underneath Summitt, Warlick went 172-67 and reached the regional finals 3 times throughout her seven-year tenure as head coach at Tennessee.

Considered one of a bunch of Tennessee gamers who additionally starred for america nationwide group. Like Trish Roberts, Rankin’s Volunteers tenure spanned only one season after spending her first three at Wayland Baptist Faculty. However in that one season, the 6-foot-3 Rankin averaged a team-leading 19.2 factors and seven.3 rebounds. The All-American’s 730 complete factors scored in 1979-80 rank seventh in class historical past. 

Coming into the 2021-22 season, Noble ranked twentieth in Tennessee historical past with 1,561 profession factors. Her 15.2 scoring common in three seasons with the Vols ranks tenth all time. Noble, who led Tennessee in scoring (14.5 factors per sport) for the 1980-81 season, holds the second-highest profession field-goal share (62.5) by any Tennessee participant. The Corridor of Famer’s 67.9-percent effort from the sector in 1979-80 stays the very best for a single-season in program historical past.

The true starting of Tennessee’s dominance within the girls’s sport got here within the early Nineteen Eighties, when this system reached the NCAA Last 4 in 1982 and ’84 — the latter squad ending because the nationwide runner-up. Haave was a pressure throughout these seasons, averaging 13.8 factors and 5.9 rebounds for her four-year profession. The All-American’s greatest season got here in 1982-83, when she averaged a team-leading 18.6 factors (746 factors tied for sixth all time) and seven.4 boards. 

Within the annals of Tennessee basketball, Gordon is among the many elite. Gordon, a member of this system’s first NCAA nationwide championship group from 1987 and in addition the ’89 title-winning squad, ranks second in class historical past with 2.462 factors. Her 18 factors per sport profession common is sixth all time. She additionally ranks second in profession made subject objectives (1,017) and seventh in made free throws (423). The Corridor of Famer received gold as a member of the U.S. girls’s Olympic basketball group and had her No. 30 retied by the college.

A two-time All-American and Wade Trophy Award winner, Charles received two nationwide titles with the Woman Vols (1989, ’91). She ranks twenty fourth in class historical past with 1,495 factors (14.2 per sport) and pulled down 858 boards (8.2) throughout her three-year Tennessee profession. Charles, who shot 55.2 p.c and recorded 95 blocks whereas at Tennessee, later returned to Knoxville as an assistant coach. Sadly, Charles passed away in 2018 at age 49 from an undisclosed trigger. Her No. 32 was retired by the college.

Head actually left her mark at Tennessee. She received two nationwide titles (1989, ’91), scored 1,483 factors (11.0), and her 439 assists (3.4) spanning 4 collegiate seasons rank ninth in class historical past. Head, who additionally averaged 4.7 profession rebounds, was the SEC Freshman of the Yr in 1989. Then, she earned the league’s participant of the yr award as a senior. She was each a Naismith All-American and Kodak All-American.

McCray was a three-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medal winner. She laid the muse for that success at Tennessee. The twice-named SEC Participant of the Yr (1994,’95) averaged 12.4 factors and 5.3 rebounds throughout her four-year profession for the Volunteers. She was one of many of most fun gamers in Tennessee historical past, fast with the ball and a powerful defender, whose 289 profession steals are fifth-most in class historical past.  

Marciniak started her collegiate profession at Notre Dame, however she made her title at Tennessee. In any case, it made sense since Pat Summitt went into labor at the Marciniak family home during a recruiting trip. In her three seasons with the Woman Vols, the feisty level guard scored 1,004 factors, recorded 204 steals (ranks third in class historical past), and posted 234 steals (tenth in class historical past). Maybe the spotlight of Marciniak’s Tennessee tenure was being named Last 4 Most Excellent Participant in 1996, throughout this system’s fourth nationwide championship run.

Fairly merely, Holdsclaw is one of the best participant to return out of the Tennessee girls’s program. A 3-time nationwide champion, two-time Naismith Award winner, and two-time Participant of the Yr by The Related Press, Holdsclaw is the college’s all-time main scorer with 3,025 factors, rebounder at 1,295, and in double-doubles with 57. Additionally, no Woman Vol has made extra subject objectives than Holdsclaw’s 1,233. Her No. 23 has been retired by the school and stays an envoy for each Tennessee and girls’s basketball.

In relation to girls’s basketball royalty, Catchings is actually a part of the court docket. She is a WNBA MVP, 10-time league All-Star, and four-time Olympic gold-medal winner. The levers to all of these achievements had been put into movement at Tennessee. Catchings ranks fourth in class historical past in factors (2,113), fourth in made subject objectives (760), fourth in made free throws (471), sixth in complete rebounds (1,004), and third in seals (311). The Naismith Award winner and AP Participant of the Yr in 2000, Catchings was the fourth Woman Vol to have her jersey (No. 24) retired.

Whereas Randall ranks seventh all time on Tennessee’s scoring record with 1,915 factors, her legacy is basically outlined as being certainly one of faculty basketball’s greatest defenders. A part of the Woman Vols 1998 nationwide title group and the third member of “The Meeks,” with Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings, Randall recorded 286 profession steals (ranked sixth in class historical past), and her 102 in the course of the 1997-98 season are nonetheless a document from a Tennessee freshman. Randall, a two-time First Group Kodak All-American (1999, 2000), is at present the top coach at Winthrop College.

Sixth in scoring at Tennessee with 1,950 factors, Lawson averaged 13.6 factors throughout her 4 seasons in Knoxville. The most effective pure shooters within the historical past of this system, Lawson ranks third with 256 profession made 3-pointers and second with a 41.5 taking pictures share from past the arc. She additionally ranks sixth in profession assists (456). An All-American in 2003, Lawson helped the Woman Vols make three Last Fours throughout her collegiate profession.

In relation to faculty 3-point shooters, there nonetheless aren’t many higher than Zolman. Sitting thirteenth in class historical past with 1,706 profession factors, Zolman shot a Tennessee-best 42.5 p.c from 3-point vary and ranks second with 266 long-distance buckets throughout her 4 seasons in Knoxville. Zolman’s 103 made threes from 2005-06 stay a college single-season document, and probably the most made by any Tennessee senior. 

It is protected to say that Parker is on the Mount Rushmore of Tennessee girls’s basketball. The newest Woman Vol to have her jersey (No. 3) retired, Parker, who averaged 19.4 factors and eight.8 rebounds throughout her three collegiate seasons, is a two-time AP Participant of the Yr and Picket Award (2007, 2008). She was additionally the ’08 Naismith Faculty Participant of the Yr. She ranks third in class historical past with 2,137 profession factors, first in made free throws (526) and blocks (275), and dunked the basketball seven occasions whereas at Tennessee. Within the historical past of ladies’s faculty basketball, Parker is among the many best to ever play the sport.

Johnson averaged 11.7 factors and ranks third in class historical past with 493 made free throws whereas at Tennessee, however she was greatest identified for her stellar protection and talent to wash the boards at a excessive fee. Solely Chamique Holdsclaw has pulled down extra profession rebounds at Tennessee than Johnson’s 1,218. The 359 she recorded in 2010-11 are probably the most of a Tennessee junior. Her 8.7 rebounding common is the fourth-best amongst all Woman Vols. 

Stricklen did just a little little bit of every little thing throughout her 4 seasons. And she or he did all of it properly. She averaged 13.5 factors, and her 1,882 profession complete rank eighth in class historical past. Her 692 made subject objectives are tenth all time at Tennessee whereas her 163 made 3-pointers sit sixth within the annals of Woman Vols basketball. Stricklin additionally pulled down a median of 6.5 profession rebounds and totaled 370 assists. That collegiate resume made Stricklen the second total choose within the 2012 WNBA Draft.

Simmons won’t convey the brand-name cache like different stars on this record, however she actually put collectively fairly the legacy whereas at Tennessee. She ranks fifth all-time with 2,064 factors —  the latest Woman Vol to prime the two,000 mark — and averaged 16.8 as a junior and 16.5 in her ultimate 2013-14 marketing campaign. That yr, she was tabbed SEC Participant of the Yr. Simmons’ 746 profession subject objectives are tied for sixth-most in class historical past, and her 255 made 3-pointers rank fourth.