During the last few years of the 1990s, teams across the nation wondered if Tennessee would ever relinquish its grasp on the women’s basketball championship.
As the Lady Vols rode the talents of Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings to three straight titles from 1996-1998, it seemed impossible to envision any team competing with Tennessee’s dynasty.
Five years later, Catchings is the reigning rookie of the year in the WNBA and Holdsclaw just competed in her fifth season with the Washington Mystics.
Since both left UT, there have been no championship trophies added to the case. Connecticut, on the other hand, has picked up three national titles, including the last two.
But if Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has anything to say about the state of women’s basketball, it is that her program is not in decline. In fact, Summitt states the obvious – Tennessee has been to three Final Fours and competed in two national title games over the past four years.
They might not have won the big one, but they certainly aren’t lagging far behind.
“I don’t think there is much of a difference between the two programs,” Summitt said. “Obviously they were the better team for 40 minutes in the championship games.
“I’m not going to go out and make a lot of changes to our team because of that, because I still feel that what we have has great potential.”
And what they have is the same expectations.
“The only thing that I can tell you is that we are going to go out and continue to compete for the national championships if I have anything to do with it,” Summitt said.
“We are going to continue to work hard in recruiting, because that’s how you win. You have to have great talent.”
Recruiting is something that Summitt has never had problems with. Though leading recruiter Mickie DeMoss was hired away at the conclusion of this season to be the head coach at Kentucky, Summitt and her staff are ready to drag in a prime-time recruiting class in the fall of 2003.
The class of 2004 is considered the best to emerge from high school in recent memory and the Lady Vol staff kept a possible five scholarships open for this class.
This year’s incoming freshman, however, fill key roles that Summitt handpicked them for.
“Going into the 2002-03 recruiting season, we had our sights set on signing two or three players,” said Summitt. “We lost Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson to graduation, and signing two players keeps our numbers on-balance. They are both competitive players with solid all-around games.
“Sidney (Spencer) has developed an inside/outside game where she can step out and has extended her range. Dominique (Redding) is a physical power player and will really mix things up in the paint.”
The Lady Vols will take some time away from their summers to hone their basketball skills together. At the beginning of August, Tennessee took its act on the road in Europe, gracing the courts in Italy and Greece during an 11-day trip overseas.
Junior point guard Loree Moore missed the trip, spending her summer as a member of the United States Pan American Games basketball team. The selection as part of the team marks the third time Moore has represented her country in an international competition.
She joined members of various collegiate teams, including Ann Strother and Barbara Taylor of Connecticut.
Summitt expects that all this summer’s work should serve the team well when the 2003 season gets underway. She said one thing is for certain, though – her team will never stop competing for the ultimate prize.
“Obviously, Connecticut won that last game and they deserved to win it,” Summitt said. “But that doesn’t mean that UT isn’t a premier basketball program, nor is it a team of the past.”
