Tennessee is just two days into its search for Kellie Harper’s successor and two more names have entered the search, per reports.
Yolett McPhee-McCuin from Ole Miss and Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk have been named as possible successors to Harper, who was fired after five seasons on Monday. Former Lady Vol Kara Lawson, who is currently the coach at Duke, was also cited as a possibility to replace Harper.
Per Chantel Jennings of The Athletic:
“McPhee-McCuin is an obvious choice. She has completely rebuilt the Ole Miss program and energized fans in Oxford. In six seasons with the Rebels, McPhee-McCuin has taken them from the bottom of the SEC to the upper echelon of the conference. When she arrived in 2018, Ole Miss hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament in more than a decade. By 2022, the Rebels punched their ticket to the big dance. Last season, they shocked the basketball world with an upset of Stanford on the Cardinal’s home court, and this past season, they made it to the second round.
“The number to beat for defense-minded McPhee-McCuin is $1.035 million per year (Harper was at $1.1 million a year), and she would inherit a program that is in a similar standing to Ole Miss but with a much deeper history in the sport.”
My Take:
There are two things I don’t like about this potential hire and one I do. First, I’m not sure McPhee-McCuin is qualified enough with less than 200 games under her belt as a head coach. She’s also not great in those game, going 103-84. A 55-percent winning clip isn’t anything to brag about and certainly wouldn’t do for the Lady Vols. However, I do like the fact that McPhee-McCuin could be very affordable.
Then, there’s Baranczyk
Per Jennings:
“Despite holding a power conference job now, Baranczyk still seems like the heir apparent for Iowa whenever Lisa Bluder retires. (She played at Iowa and coached, like Bluder, at Drake.) But could an enticing SEC job be enough to pull Baranczyk away from a potentially predetermined path to Iowa City? Her Sooners are entering the SEC and her style is much different than what some expect from Tennessee, but a fast-paced, high-scoring offense could be exciting.
“In three seasons at Oklahoma, Baranczyk has twice led the Sooners to the top of the table, and they’ve made the second round of the NCAA Tournament every year. Expectations would be higher at Tennessee, but Baranczyk could be an outside-of-the-box hire who might be the right kind of change.”
My Take:
I like the concept of an uptempo attack. Winning is always best, but losing is a bit easier to take when it’s exciting. However, Baranczyk feels like men’s coach Rick Barnes. She gets her team to the tournament only to be bereft of success.
26 Responses
One thing about McPhee-McCuin is that she definitely improves the teams she coaches. Jacksonville University was 11-19 prior to her taking over. The team improved every year, with her final year 2017-18, their record was 24-9. The year after she left, their record slipped to 14-16. The 2017-18 Ole Miss team was 12-19. The team showed steady improvement, so I think just looking at the overall win loss record can be misleading.
Keep Kelli. She was on a roll.
I think kara Lawson will be the best candidate for the Lady Vols they really need someone that’s strong and can really recruit some good players to build Tennessee back up to where they used to be when pat Summit. Was their
Kara Lawson would keep the Pat Summitt Era going which is important to me. pat built this program and I think you should honor her as long as possible by keeping coaches that she helped mold
Whatever
Dawn Staley – give her Heupel money.
Throw money at Kara Lawson or go big after Dawn Staley
We want Candace Parker
Candace Parker
Affordability? Let’s get someone we can afford and get our tails kicked.
Wes Moore has a degree from Tennessee and worked with Pat Summitt. Granted that he was an assistant to Kay Yow & has been at NC State since 2013 as head coach. However, would he want to leave a volatile conference and reunite with a program of familiarity?
He’s a great recruiter, but he relies almost exclusively on veteran players, sometimes overworking them. You can’t deny that he cleaned up Kellie Harper’s mess at NC State.
Don’t repeat the same thing in 5 years that just happened! Candace Parker knows how to win she already coaches the teams she has played on in the wnba! She could get players to play at Tennessee! She has all the qualities needed!!!°
Women coaches are suppose to turn around programs without investment of time. Men are given 8-10 years ( unless they stay below 500 percentage) having contracts renewed. Women must do it immediately it is a sad quiet discrimination!
In my opinion UT needs to ho outside the box. Find a good coach that has no association with UT. That would be the best thing to do.
UT should go outside the box. Find a good coach that has no association with University of TN..
I think UT let Kelly Harper go too soon. She took the Lady Vols farther than they had been in a long while, and I think she could have taken them to a championship given a little more time. Sometimes we have to give coaches time to build their program.
It should be Lawson, waltz,Moore, Hammond, or the coach at usc. Money should not be an issue, after all it is the lady vols.
I would love to see Dawn Staley as the Lady Vols Coach. I know that would not be happening but I can wish what could be the greatest hire in Tennessee history other than that of Pat Summitt.
If the Lady Vols are to compete on the highest level of the SEC and potentially win a national championship. They have only two choices for a new coach: Kandace(?) Parker or Andrea(?) Carter both are former players and classy additions who can recruit and bring respect back to this program. Forget experience, they are intelligent enough to surround themselves with key ingredients. Players would play for these two chieftains.
I think coach yo would be a great fit she’s passionate about the game she’s a proven what she done at Jacksonville state was great that’s why ole miss snatched her up 6 years ago she’s from the Bahamas but she has brilliant basketball mind she’s the daughter of educators she can recruit so coach yo will be one of my choices she’s currently coaching in the sec so she knows what a tough conference it she also coached and clemson I don’t know what year she coached at clemson but she did and succeeded there as well her resume speaks for itself
🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻
If we are not looking higher than this, we are wasting time.
Sheryl swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie Cheryl Miller. Steve Lavin and Rick pitino. Tests are all winners.
Look at Sheryl swoopes, Cynthia Cooper. Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Miller, Steve Lavin and Rick pitino. These are all winners.
Y’all missed up for real! She will kick y’all’s butts if you ever plays you guys from Tennessee. This must be a inside hire for a buddy.
No coaches mentioned nor any others are the answer coaching wise. It’s rather about the players and no matter the coach, if Tennessee can’t get people who are unable to score, rebound, play defense, and handle the ball…… it’s all a moot point. Basically firing Kellie was really all about the players, not so much her coaching ( except of course the conclusive 2 seconds against South Carolina … which should have been the only loss for USC: