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Tennessee Lady Vols Suffer Two Huge Losses: Carter and Cooper

By Caleb Calhoun

Feb 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick talks to Lady Volunteers guard Andraya Carter (14) during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick talks to Lady Volunteers guard Andraya Carter (14) during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Holly Warlick was dealt a blow Wednesday with the news that she will be without Andraya Carter and Te’a Cooper this year.

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After a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight this past year and doing just enough to sell Tennessee Women’s Basketball fans on the future, Holly Walick’s program suffered a huge setback on Wednesday.

Fifth-year senior Andraya Carter, who was a very reliable player for the Tennessee Lady Vols after starting 25 games last year, announced in a letter on UTSports that she would not play this year.

Meanwhile, sophomore Te’a Cooper, who made a splash as a freshman last year averaging eight and a half points a game while mostly operating as a reserve, will now miss the upcoming 2016-2017 season due to a knee injury, according to a report on WBIR.

This is a huge blow for the Lady Vols.

Given the fact that Bashaara Graves has already graduated, the program just lost a lot of its production from last year after expecting to return the vast majority of it.

Fortunately for Warlick, this is still a team expected to be built around Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell, both of whom finally emerged as dominant forces this past year.

But Cooper was supposed to be part of that mix, and Carter was the veteran who could be the glue player.

With a lackluster recruiting class this past year, the only other returning proven player that Warlick is left with is Jaime Nared.

Everybody else was buried in the depth chart this past year, and the talent level has just suffered a significant drop-off.

If the Tennessee Lady Vols still have a great run, which time is running out for Warlick to do, then it will be her best coaching job yet.

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But she still hasn’t had one, so things are definitely not looking good.

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