I would say no but..
Mulkey or Staley? That’s delusional. Mulkey is a Louisiana native. She’s home. Staley became a legend at South Carolina. She’s adored in Columbia. They built a statue of her… you don’t leave a place like that.
There's a tinge of "the expectations at Duke aren't the same as they are for Tennessee", which I don't believe is accurate. In fact, I know that it's not accurate.
A couple of things: I remember Gail G and her success at Duke, but I thought that Texas lured her away from Durham for more money and resources (things didn’t pan out for her there, and she withdrew from the public eye after that).
she can't turn it around by herself! Every recruit/portal player that comes to TN is close to the greatest ever. So even tho a player is ranked 50+, that's wrong and they should be top 20. They are proven wrong almost every time.
That's the bare bones of it, but there's a whole lot more to the story than that (it's not appropriate for this forum, so I'll stop here).
That's all fine and dandy, but I want results--banners and rings. Geno has them. Dawn has them. Kara isn't going to get her full due (at least from me) until she gets them. And if she never does, then I, as someone who has followed Duke WBB for a long time, cannot give Kara her full due. I know where the program has been and where it needs to go before I can put her up there with Gail. She may have all the right intentions, but results matter in the end. I don't know if she can get it done at Duke because it'll be harder to win here when you have the SEC positioned to dominate the sport for years to come.
And that's fine. She's eloquent in her speech and her words resonate with plenty of people. Unlike McCallie, I'm not embarrassed for her to be a representative of the university. But she's going to have to prove that she can take a team to multiple Final 4s (and pull off a NC win) to be considered one of the best in the business. Whether that happens at Duke or with another program (Tennessee) remains to be seen. I'd love for it to happen at Duke, but I'm not sure that the resources are there for that to happen. If she was at Tennessee and had the resources that Danny White (who is, interestingly enough, the son of one of our former ADs) gives their current coach, she'd be set.
I believe she resigned from the UT Board of Trustees due to lack of diversity in the Athletic Department Leadership.
Title or bust is a steep expectation for a program that hasn’t ever won a title, let alone made a Final Four in 20 years. The level of history and expectations is far different at a program like Tennessee compared to Duke, I don’t think it’s fair to equate the two. Tennessee has one of the strongest and most demanding fan bases in the country and the pressure is on quickly if you can’t get results from the get go. The level of expectation just isn’t the same in Durham and it makes the job a heck of a lot more desirable IMO.
Early in the season, one of the Vol nation posters declared that Jaida Civil was the best freshman. They didn't mean on the Tennessee team, they didn't even mean in the SEC, they declared she was the best freshman the country, so I trust you understand that I don't take VolNation proclamations too seriously. (Don't get me wrong, Civil is a talent, and after a slow start she's been playing better lately, but I don't believe she's in any serious discussion for NFOY.)
If you think the voters are biased, you should see those hatin' computers.
No. Neither would a Patriot League team that lost two. Opponents are not fungible.
You're entitled to your opinions. As a longtime supporter/follower of Duke, I am entitled to my expectations. Building back a program is nice. Want to make waves in this sport? Start getting to Final 4s. Gail did. Joanne did not. We've been there and done that with a Joanne-caliber coach. It's time to see if Kara is more of a Gail-caliber coach.
What is with the Ole Miss shade? They've accomplished more than Vanderbilt this decade and are pretty much on par or better with what Kentucky has accomplished with exception to the lone SEC tournament championship. They had a good run of finishing around #4 in the SEC and are always sweet 16 threats since Coach Yo took over. Have we forgotten the Stanford upset in the NCAA tournament?I will say VolNation is a "passionate fan base" and they have actually evolved-they now admit they are one of the TWO top programs in WCBB, which for them is quite an admission.
It's year 2 of this Caldwell experiment and while I don't she is the answer, she is not going to be fired this year. At least Danny White broke from the Pat coaching tree by hiring Kim Caldwell but would they ever consider hiring a man for the coach if/when the time comes?
Bottom line is very few schools will throw money at a non-revenue program. Texas and LSU did, and as Tennessee is in their conference, they may have to rethink their strategy. What "known" coach would want to take that program is anyone's guess as I just don't think it is really as great a job as VolNation asserts it is. Honestly, that last time Tennessee was relevant was 10 years ago when they made back to back Elite 8 appearances. The game has evolved significantly more since then with better coaching, more depth of talent and more schools putting money into their WCBB programs. It's tougher world out there. Heck, even within the SEC the top 6 Programs are SC, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Vanderbilt now. Ole Miss wants to think they are there but they aren't so Tennessee is already going to be fighting for scraps.
Holly was regularly able to get top recruits to Rocky Top, albeit they were a disjointed lot whereas Kellie Jolly-Harper was not able to lure any top HS recruits, only the transfer portal disenfranchised (Rikea Jackson/Talaysia Cooper). Kim has at least recruited well but whether she can get them to play as a team and achieve high level success is unknown. But as they say "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh_t" so having good players is better than not having good players.
Meanwhile, we here on the BY just sit back and watch...cue the popcorn eating meme...
Tough to poach from the B1G. And a lot of the coaches you mentioned have personal ties to those areas/schools. Better chance to get someone from the B12, ACC, or lower.
UConn and Tennessee fans are always dumping on Ole Miss, which is strange considering that the program was in absolute ruins (thanks to the brilliance of Rick Insell's son) before Coach Yo arrived (and she had to beg for an interview, which I'm assuming she knocked out of the park). I'll give Tennessee fans credit for consistency in them not being impressed, as Kellie Harper yielded similar results but was still ousted. But UConn fans? Same fans who are constantly promoting Shea Ralph and Carla Berube? Zero Sweet 16 berths between those two as head coaches. Coach Yo has them both beat.
I’ve said this more than once and I’ll keep saying it every chance I get. I don’t care if the she is mother Theresa, Coach Yo lost every shred of credibility and respect when she added Quentin Hillsman to her staff. I can’t understand any athlete going to that program after what he did at Syracuse. I don’t care how much he’s rehabbed his image. As far as I know, Shea and Carla are decent caring human beings. I’ll take that any day of the week.
Okay, that I understand. I was referring to her basketball record.
One funny comment I saw at some point: “Tenn won’t hire Kara because she’s a lesbian.”
Think you meant to include ORG for one of the NW's.
Kara and her husband have been married since 2008.
And Harper didn't have the benefit of Danny White's open NIL wallet.
Good grief. Please read what I posted. Hyperbole much? Come on man.