When you are the coach of a basketball team coming into town to play the local university, you wouldn’t expect a crowd to gather to greet you with open arms.
Unless you’re Kentucky coach Mickie DeMoss.
DeMoss will be the honored guest at a meet-and-greet reception at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night. Before taking the reins at Kentucky prior to the 2003-04 season, she served as an assistant and associate head coach under UT coach Pat Summitt for 18 years.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, she will make her first appearance on the opposite bench at Thompson-Boling Arena.
For Summitt, DeMoss’ return will be bittersweet.
“This is the first time that Mickie will be coming back to Knoxville, and back in Thompson-Boling Arena, obviously on the other bench for the first time,” Summitt said. “But I am very pleased for Mickie and her staff and what they have been able to accomplish at Kentucky.
“I can’t say I always look forward to playing against her. That is a different situation. But I am looking forward to having a chance to see her and her staff.”
The Kentucky coaching staff has a strong connection to the Lady Vols, even outside DeMoss. Two of her assistant coaches also have ties to Tennessee. Niya Butts was a Lady Vol for four years in the late 1990s, while Matthew Mitchell served as a graduate assistant at UT in the 1999-2000 season.
But the ties to DeMoss remain the strongest. Her imprint is all over the 2004-2005 team. As the lead recruiter at UT, she had a hand in luring all of the players on the current roster to play at Tennessee.
“A majority of our players were recruited by Mickie,” Summitt said. “Even the freshman class coming in knew Mickie very well, though she was gone before they committed. I think the impact she has had on the success of this program is huge.
“It is a situation where she has been recognized as the best assistant recruiter in the women’s game, and if you polled the coaches, I am sure they would say that over the years there has been nobody better.”
DeMoss struggled through a losing season at Kentucky last year. This season, her team is on the upswing. They went into Thursday’s game against Mississippi State with a 13-5 overall record, 2-1 in conference play.
One of her biggest victories at the helm came last Thursday when the Wildcats used 15 points from freshman center Sarah Elliott to pull off a 71-63 upset of No. 18 Georgia.
Elliott’s efforts in that game and a 10-point, six-rebound outing off the bench against Ole Miss earned SEC Player of the Week honors. The distinction was the first for a Kentucky player since 2003.
Tennessee will counter Elliott and Kentucky’s post presence with a more aggressive attack. Junior center Tye’sha Fluker and freshman center Nicky Anosike provide UT with a strong starting duo inside.
“Their rebounding has been better,” Summitt said. “That has been our trademark for years — defense and rebounding. They present a difficult matchup because of their size and their mobility.”
A return to defense and rebounding has allowed fans a glimpse of the Tennessee staples of the past. In return, Summitt expects UT’s fans to stay loyal even when fan favorite DeMoss returns Sunday.
“I think the Lady Vol fans will be excited to see Mickie, and she will have a great reception,” Summitt said.
“But when the game starts, they will be Lady Vol fans again.”
