Etched into a plaque shaped like the state of Tennessee, the slogan sat on a table to the side of the stage where Holly Warlick officially welcomed a new UT women’s basketball season at media day last week.
It is printed on the media credentials of those who will cover the Lady Vols in 2013-14.
It is commonplace on the official team website and social media pages.
The “Grind for 9” is seemingly everywhere and it unofficially began with a 115-31 UT exhibition win over Carson-Newman at Thompson-Boling Arena on Monday night.
Absent from the Final Four since 2007-08 when they captured their eighth national title, the No. 4 Lady Vols are unabashedly publicizing their expectations for a new season through that motto, and “Grind for 9,” they say, is actually much more than a catchphrase.
“I can promise you. It is a slogan for us,” Warlick said, “but we visit it every day.”
Tennessee players are active in plugging the “Grind for 9” through social media, but unanimously agree that it goes beyond a glossy marketing campaign.
“I think it’s a mentality,” junior point guard Arial Massengale said. “We’ve been cut short the last five years on trying to make it to the Final Four, and with the standards you have as being a Lady Vol, without getting to the Final Four, it’s kind of like your season is a failure.”
The Lady Vols have finished one win shy of the national semifinals for three consecutive years. Their overall Final Four drought of five years is the longest for the program since the inception of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in the 1981-82 season.
Warlick acknowledged the Elite Eight as a fine accomplishment and briefly cited winning the SEC as a goal for her team. But in her second season as the head coach following the legendary Pat Summitt, her sights are on cutting down the nets after more than just a conference title.
“That is a goal of ours that will always be there,” Warlick said. “But our history is competing for national championships, and we haven’t had that opportunity in a while, so that is our goal.”
Though none of UT’s players have played beyond the Elite Eight, they’re plenty aware of the expectations they carry. In case they ever forget the legacy of UT women’s basketball, “Grind for 9” reminds them each day.
“When we sign that National Letter of Intent we know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Massengale said. “We know it’s not going to be easy, and it’s not always going to be fun, but you get the job done and in the end, it will be worth it.”
Warlick can remind them as well. She went 118-23 in her career as a Lady Vol under Summitt from 1976-80.
She served on Summitt’s staff for 27 years, encompassing the first eight national titles.
“If it doesn’t bother any of the players on this team, they don’t need to be having a Tennessee uniform on,” Warlick said. “Because we’ve gotten to the Elite Eight, and our standards are more than that.”
Assistant coaches Jolette Law and Kyra Elzy – a two-time national champion as a UT player – created “Grind for 9,” and Warlick embraced it immediately.
“I love it. It is what it is,” Warlick said. “The Final Four is in Tennessee, so we don’t shy away. We can’t just act like we don’t know that it’s not there and act like we don’t want to be there. So I just told her ‘we’re going to hit it head on and talk about it.'”
Fittingly, Tennessee opens the regular season Friday night at Middle Tennessee State then travels to No. 12 North Carolina on Monday.
MTSU took UT to overtime in Knoxville last season, and the Tar Heels present an early chance for the Lady Vols to measure themselves against top-tier talent.
“Our backs will be up against the wall early,” Warlick said without hesitation.
“We’ve got to take care of each game at a time, and if we don’t, then it’s not going to happen,” Warlick added. “We’ve got to grind it out. Every game for us is a grind.”
