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Tennessee Lady Vols: Ranking toughest players to replace for 2019-2020

By Caleb Calhoun

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

The Tennessee women’s basketball Lady Vols have to replace four players for 2019-2020. Here is how losing those Volunteers ranks by difficulty.

With the addition of a new head coach in Kellie Harper to replace Holly Warlick comes the departure of lots of elite talent. Such is the case for the Tennessee Lady Vols as the enter the 2019-2020 women’s basketball season.

Harper inherits a team that lost three starters from a year ago and four key contributors. What makes matters worse, though, is the fact that two of them were lost due to transfer. And it leaves her with a lot of attrition to deal with her first season.

Sure, she has five newcomers, including four freshmen and a junior college transfer, and she also has a sixth-year senior in Lou Brown returning to health after suffering a season-ending injury last year, right as she transferred to UT from the Washington State Cougars. So there are some things for the Tennessee Lady Vols to be encouraged about.

But with encouragement also comes concern. And there is a lot of concern about the players who departed Rocky Top this past year. A 19-13 team that went 7-9 in the SEC and backed into the NCAA Tournament only to lose in the first round could not afford to lose some of this talent.

In this post, we’re going to rank all four departures by how difficult they will be to replace. We’re looking at their talent, the current experience on the roster and the overall intangibles provided by each of the players.

What’s clear is that these players will be missed, especially in the early part of the season. And the loss of one of the players cuts extremely deep. So what impact will this have? How bad will it be? Let’s break that down here. This is our ranking of the four players the Tennessee Lady Vols lost by the difficulty they will have replacing them.