Tennessee Lady Vols 2018-2019 preview by position: Front court outlook

Final Take

Pat Summitt built a tradition as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols around tough defense and rebounding. To do that, she loved to rely on players with a strong inside presence, and the most famous example of this was obviously Candace Parker.

Versatility was also a big deal, which is what Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings famously brought to the table. But this year, Holly Warlick is going to be searching for all of that. The departures of Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell remain extremely difficult to deal with.

The whole thing, though, is bittersweet. Warlick has lost some clear production that she likely won’t be able to replace. But she does have more depth this year to run a deeper rotation, which is crucial for the team as a whole.

Tennessee has two players with a ton of potential but limited or no experience at this level in Kasiyahna Kushkituah and Mimi Collins. Either of them could be as good as Russell in the future, but they haven’t proven anything yet.

On top of that, they have a graduate transfer in Lou Brown who, unlike Nared, is a true inside player but still brings that versatility. And they do have one experienced player and a true center in Cheridene Green who showed she could produce last year. Kamera Harris gives Warlick five players to truly rotate this year. With Brown and Green as seniors, there is also clearly some experience on this roster.

Simply put, the front court of the Tennessee Lady Vols won’t be as dominant as it was last year. But it could keep the team as a whole fresher, and it could spell a bright future. As a result, there is reason for excitement there. But the team will have some growing pains with that part of the roster early on in the season.