KNOXVILLE — Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt was returning from SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday when she called to check on the progress of her team’s practice, which was being led by assistant coaches in her absence.
“How’s it going?” Summitt asked first-year assistant Daedra Charles-Furlow.
“Not good,” Charles-Furlow replied bluntly.
Little changed when Summitt arrived.
“Even when I got here, they may have picked it up a little bit, but they had already pretty much established how they were going to practice that day,” said Summitt, whose team includes six true freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
Summitt said she was particularly disappointed with the team’s low energy and lack of respect for coaching.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s not like all those freshmen have all the answers yet,” she said.
Because of the lackluster performance, Summitt added a 6 a.m. practice Thursday to one scheduled in the afternoon.
With senior Alex Fuller and sophomore Angie Bjorklund attending media days with Summitt, redshirt sophomore Cait McMahan was one of four returning players at Wednesday’s practice.
“I’m glad it happened because we learned a lot from that day,” McMahan said. “It needed to happen, and we learned from it.”
One result has been more physical practices.
“We’ve picked up the intensity five times as much since Wednesday,” said McMahan, whose arms were dotted with a patchwork of bruises before practice Friday.
“We just go at it. It’s physical, and we have to bring it.”
Former Lady Vol Alberta Auguste can attest. A member of last year’s national championship team, Auguste has recently aided in workouts to help the six newcomers adjust to the demands of a college program.
“(The freshmen) work hard, and they don’t give up,” Auguste said. “They’ve got a lot of fight in them. It’s just discipline right now. They need a lot of discipline.
“They just have to listen. It’s more about getting feedback and listening to what coaches have to say, and learn from it and grow from it.”
But to prevent mental lapses like Wednesday’s practice, Summitt said she wants upperclassmen and returning players to be assume more assertive team leadership roles.
That includes McMahan.
When the point guard wasn’t taking an active role in a drill during Friday’s practice, Summitt verbally reprimanded her.
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