In this Jan. 24, 2013, file photo, Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick yells to her players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Vanderbilt in Nashville.KNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s Holly Warlick feels the difference a year of head coaching experience makes.
She doesn’t have to answer as many questions about replacing Pat Summitt, whose 1,098 career wins are the most of any Division I men’s or women’s basketball coach ever. She doesn’t worry about whether she can make the transition from assistant to head coach.
Although Warlick insisted she didn’t feel any extra pressure last year as Summitt’s successor, she acknowledges she went into her debut season with something to prove.
“I obviously felt I had to prove my worth and that they made the right choice, but I just never got focused on that,” Warlick said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Warlick made her case by leading the Lady Vols to a 27-8 record that included a Southeastern Conference regular-season title and a third straight appearance in a regional final. Before the season, SEC coaches picked Tennessee to finish fifth in the conference.