RALEIGH, N.C. — Tennessee fifth-year senior Tamari Key wasn't sure how this basketball season might pan out after she missed most of the Lady Volunteers' 2022-23 schedule because of blood clots in her lungs.
It has led her back to her home state.
"It's definitely full circle for me," Key said Sunday, "to come home, play in front of people that I haven't seen in a while that haven't been able to get out to Knoxville to see me play."
Key and the sixth-seeded Lady Vols (20-12) will take on site host North Carolina State (28-6), a No. 3 seed, in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 4 p.m. Monday. ESPN will televise the matchup, with the winner earning a spot in the Sweet 16 and moving on to play a regional semifinal next weekend in Portland, Oregon.
The 6-foot-6 Key, who is from the Raleigh suburb of Cary, is Tennessee's starting center, and her matchup with N.C. State's River Baldwin (6-5) and Mimi Collins (6-3) in the lane figures to be something to watch as these teams vie to keep their seasons going.
"That's a great story, Tamari being able to play here, at home for her," Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said. "What she's been through medically, and to be able to fight through and come back and help lift this team throughout this season and now in the NCAA tournament — just really proud of her."
N.C. State coach Wes Moore said the Wolfpack recruited Key, but there wasn't a sustained connection.
"I don't think she ever came on an official visit," he said. "She's an unbelievable presence on both ends of the floor and a big challenge when you're trying to have an interior scoring game, things like that. She definitely impacts the game on both ends."
Key played nine games last season before she was sidelined. Her return was a process once this season began, with Key logging more than eight minutes in only two of Tennessee's first 10 games.
"It was just the unknown of what my next steps were, once I got diagnosed," she said. "But just knowing I had a good crew with us, my teammates were really supportive."
Key isn't the only link between these teams; Moore had better success recruiting Harper on the coaching level than he did luring Key.
Harper and her husband, Lady Vols assistant coach Jon Harper, were assistants under Moore two decades ago at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Kellie spent four seasons as N.C. State's head coach before Moore left UTC to take over the Wolfpack in 2013.
"Kellie and Jon are two of my dearest friends in the coaching profession," said Moore, whose Wolfpack ended UTC's season with a 64-45 victory Saturday.
The Mocs were seeded 14th after receiving an automatic NCAA bid as the Southern Conference tournament champion.
Tennessee also topped an auto qualifier Saturday, cruising past Horizon League champion Green Bay, a No. 11 seed, 92-63.
On the court Monday, there will be numerous roster crossovers. Mimi Collins began her career at Tennessee before heading to Maryland and eventually to N.C. State.
"Being able to play my old team, I think it's just a blessing," Collins said. "I'm very excited to play them."
Collins said she's taking it all in, knowing this will be her final home game regardless of the outcome.
"This is my last rodeo," she said. "So I just want to soak in everything. I think I'm cherishing more my teammates as my sisters more than anything. As an adult, you know you don't get that back. You get to come to alumni and see your old college teammates, but I just want to cherish this as much as I can."
Tennessee's Rickea Jackson and N.C. State's Madison Hayes were Mississippi State teammates before taking different paths. They're key starters now for their respective teams. Hayes is a Chattanooga native who was a prep standout at East Hamilton.
History lessons
Tennessee is 30-3 all-time in NCAA second-round games, and those three defeats have come across the past six tournaments. The Lady Vols are 4-1 in second-round games away from home.
N.C. State has won 17 consecutive home games in the NCAA tournament, without a loss in the event in Raleigh since 1983. The Wolfpack have reached the Sweet 16 in four of the past five tournaments.