Kellie Harper, Tennessee’s Lady Vols coach, was fired on Monday after five seasons.
Athletic director Danny White confirmed Harper’s departure, stating he informed her that her alma university was making changes following a “thorough review” of the women’s basketball program.
“Decisions like these are never easy to make, especially with someone who has done so much for the Lady Vols as a three-time national champion student-athlete,” White stated in an e-mail. “Her devotion and enthusiasm for Tennessee and the Lady Vols is unparalleled. She has put so much heart and her into our program and genuinely given her all for Tennessee.”
Harper’s Lady Vols coaching career concludes with a 108-52 record, including 53-24 in Southeastern Conference play. She had become one of only two coaches to lead four different teams to the NCAA Tournament.
But that is not the norm at Tennessee, where she helped win three consecutive national championships as a player under the late Pat Summitt. The Lady Vols remain the only program to have made every NCAA Tournament.
White said he spoke with the Lady Vols and intends to conduct an active search for the next leader of a team with eight national championships. Tennessee hasn’t won a national championship under Summitt since 2008. The Lady Vols did not
Since then, they’ve made it to the Final Four.
Harper led the Lady Vols to consecutive Sweet 16 appearances the previous two seasons. They were defeated 79-72 in the second round by her former boss Wes Moore and North Carolina State, bringing her sixth season to an end.
She regarded it as a privilege to work at her alma institution and coach a program she values greatly.
“I am grateful for the opportunity my staff and I have had to lead an amazing group of young women and to mentor them on the court as well as provide them with life skills that will benefit them far beyond the game of basketball,” Harper stated in an e-mail.
Harper, who had stops at Western Carolina and Missouri State, is 393-260.
Two seasons, the second following the loss of starter center Tamari Key in December 2022 due to a blood clot.
Tennessee spent much of the season without guard Destinee Wells, who was named conference player of the year three times before suffering a leg injury in December.
From 2020 to 2023, the Lady Vols finished third in the SEC for four consecutive seasons. They made it to the SEC Tournament championship game in 2023 for the first time since 2015. On March 9, they lost this year’s semifinal to South Carolina by a buzzer-beating three.
This marks the second coaching change in the SEC this offseason. Kentucky sacked Kyra Elzy, the SEC Tournament champion in 2022, and hired Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech.
Harper was hired in 2019 to replace Holly Warlick, another former Lady Vols star. Warlick was sacked after a 172-67 record in seven seasons, including three regional final appearances in her first four years. However, she failed to get past the second round in her final three seasons.
That is not the norm at the program previously led by Summitt, whose statue stands just outside the stadium where the Lady Vols play, or in a league where LSU is the defending national champion and South Carolina is chasing its third title under coach Dawn Staley.
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