Katie Wright was just 24 when she took over at Soddy Daisy four years ago, and as a first-time head coach, she was eager to win.
At a girls’ prep basketball program with little consistent success in its history, her impact has been impossible to miss.
The things Wright (formerly Collier) learned while winning three TSSAA state championships at Knoxville’s Webb School and later playing guard for Middle Tennessee State University have carried over to her time leading the Lady Trojans. Her high school coach was her mother, Shelley Collier, who played at the University of Tennessee and was a captain for the Lady Volunteers when they won the 1987 NCAA Division I tournament, the first of eight national championships the program would win under coach Pat Summitt.
The Lady Trojans’ most recent winning season had been in 2008-09 until the addition of Wright, who hasn’t had a losing season while leading her team to 20-plus wins all four years. Two years ago, Soddy Daisy won its first region championship since 1968, and this week the Lady Trojans earned their first district tournament title since 2007, beating Signal Mountain 41-29 in Tuesday’s 6-3A final.
At the time Wright took over, Soddy Daisy had gone 26-121 in district play over the previous 13 seasons; the Lady Trojans are 39-7 against district opponents in her four seasons as part of an overall record of 86-44 (.662). It’s the program’s most successful stretch since making four TSSAA state tournament appearances (but losing in the first round each time) from 1958-68, which included a 33-0 start for the team that reached the 1959 tournament.