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The inevitable has happened, reportedly.
According to Jeff Goodman, Tennessee has parted ways with women’s head basketball coach Holly Warlick.
Tennessee has parted ways with women’s basketball coach Holly Warlick, source told @stadium. Went to the NCAA tourney in all seven seasons after taking over for Pat Summitt, but was unable to get the Vols to a Final Four.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 27, 2019
Warlick was 172-67 in her time leading the program. She had been a part of the program since 1985, joining as an assistant under Pat Summitt. Warlick took over in the 2012-13 season, leading the Lady Vols to an elite eight appearance. She would get to that point twice more in the next three years, but never further.
Warlick’s teams didn’t make it past the second round from 2017 through 2019, which is why you see a change made today.
Tennessee finished this season with a losing record in SEC play, sitting at just 19-13 overall. They needed a win over LSU in the SEC Tournament to simply make the NCAA Tournament field.
This report from Goodman comes just a day after Tennessee was connected to Louisville coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals are still alive in the Tournament, so we’ll see if that report has any validity to it once Louisville’s run is done.
Update: The move is official. Here’s a statement from AD Phillip Fulmer.
“Holly and I met this afternoon, and I informed her of the decision to change leadership within the program,” Fulmer said. “Holly has dedicated most of her adult life to the University of Tennessee and the Lady Vols program. She loves Tennessee, and Tennessee needs to always love her back. She was front and center as this program developed into the model for women’s intercollegiate excellence.
”While it certainly stings to make this decision, I am charged with doing what I believe is best for this storied program. It’s important to all of us that Lady Vols basketball maintains its status among the elite.”