Bridgette Gordon (1985-89) unjustifiably gets lost in the shuffle. Partly due to recency bias, I think, and she played in a media-starved, pre-WNBA era. She was on the Final Four all-tournament team as a sophomore in '87 and was MVP in '89. IIRC she's 2nd all time in points at TN behind only Holdsclaw. Daedra Charles, the MVP of the '91 team, was also a tremendous dominant post presence.I am definitey not an expert on TN but they spoke like it was a hard choice for the posts but who else is close to Tamika, Candace and Holdsclaw??
Yes Gordon was terrific. The first big time star player at Tennessee.Bridgette Gordon (1985-89) unjustifiably gets lost in the shuffle. Partly due to recency bias, I think, and she played in a media-starved, pre-WNBA era. She was on the Final Four all-tournament team as a sophomore in '87 and was MVP in '89. IIRC she's 2nd all time in points at TN behind only Holdsclaw. Daedra Charles, the MVP of the '91 team, was also a tremendous dominant post presence.
Picking a "starting five" is a tricky task. TN tended to be very forward and post dominant over the years, and those top 3 of Holdsclaw-Catchings-Parker overlap in position quite a bit. If the goal is to choose a floor-balanced team, some great post players are gonna get left out. and none of the Tennessee guards measure up to the all-time great status of its greatest post players and forwards. Warlick, who played in the AIAW era, and Lawson are fair enough picks if you have to pick 2 guards, but I'm not sure either would make a list of "TN's top 5 players of all time".
Bridgette Gordon at the 2?? I remember her as more of a forward? I guess it's been what, 31+ years since the last time I saw her play, so my memory is not to be trusted. (Plus all those hideous orange jerseys blur together in my mind's eye )Gotta have Gordon on there somewhere. Id throw Lawson or Jolly at the 1, Gordon the 2, and Catchings/Holdsclaw/Parker at 3-5. Daedra Charles is another one who could be on there.
Other HMs include Nikki McCray, Hornbuckle, Marciniak, Semeka Randall, and Shekinna Stricklen.