In the days leading up to last season’s national title game between Tennessee and Connecticut, UConn coach Geno Auriemma repeatedly made reference to a program that was finished.
He repeated those claims this summer – implying that after six national titles in the 1980s and 90s, the Lady Vol program has reached the end of its dominance of women’s basketball.
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt answered those references quickly, stating with confidence after the 81-76 loss to the Huskies that she had no doubt her program wasn’t finished.
“To be honest, there really isn’t that much of a difference between the two programs,” Summitt said postgame. “We battled for 40 minutes tonight and they came out ahead. They deserved to come out ahead, but they are not that far ahead of us.”
Then Summitt set out to make her point.
She and her assistants hit the recruiting trail and set out to tap into the high school class of 2004 – a group that recruiting gurus have tabbed as the most talented class ever.
When players finally had the chance to make things official on Nov. 12, UT’s dedication to bringing in the best paid off.
Four of the top five seniors in the nation signed with Tennessee, including last year’s Naismith Player of the Year Candace Parker. Parker, a 6-3 phenom, is widely considered a blend of former Lady Vol All-Americans Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings.
As bright as the future looks, though, this year’s team is out to prove the state of the program shouldn’t be expected to waver this season.
That mindset starts with the four seniors. For the past two seasons, they had the luxury of watching as forward Gwen Jackson and guard Kara Lawson led the Lady Vols. In their freshman campaign, Catchings and Semeka Randall still roamed the UT court.
Now it’s time for Tennessee’s Class of 2004 to lead.
And no one knows that more than the players themselves.
“I want to step up now and set an example for the freshmen by working hard everyday in practice,” forward Courtney McDaniel said. “You want to treat each practice as a game because practice is where you get better.”
For LaToya Davis, leading means taking on a more defined role in the defense.
“I want to be the spark we need defensively,” Davis said. “I want to try and be a leader on defense. I think I have improved a whole lot and worked on my defense this summer, so that’s a strength for me.”
Stepping into the shoes of Lawson and Jackson, who contributed 37 percent of the scoring and 25 percent of the rebounding last season, is the foremost goal on the seniors’ minds.
“We don’t have an All-American on our team this year,” guard Tasha Butts said. “Everyone will have to do everything they can to help this team be successful. I think that starts with leadership and that’s a role we are trying to fit into.”
Their leadership roles will be slightly different than previous years – the seniors will lead a team that isn’t expected to have quite as significant a national role as years prior.
“I’m really excited,” center Ashley Robinson said. “This is the first time since I have been at Tennessee that we are the underdogs. Now, we get to pull some upsets. Teams feel that we are not as strong as we have been in the past. No one believes in us and we know that we believe in ourselves.
“I want to leave strong with that big class coming in.”
