Tennessee Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kellie Harper and Lady Vols Alexus Dye, Rae Burrell, and Keyen Green met with the local media on Saturday via Zoom. The trio of players will be honored prior to Sunday’s home game vs. LSU.
The No. 16/14 Lady Vols (22-6/11-4 SEC) will meet the No. 8/8 Tigers (24-4/12-3 SEC) in a 2:02 p.m. match-up at Thompson-Boling Arena. ESPN2 will televise.
At stake is a tie for second place and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Nashville. UT is currently in third and a game behind LSU but could improve its position for postseason play with a victory in the regular-season finale. The Big Orange enter on a nine-game home winning streak, while the Tigers are on a seven-game overall win streak.
Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper
On emotions playing a role in the game on Sunday…
“When you’ve coached as long as I have, you’ve done it a while. You go through the highs and lows of emotions. I think one of the things we try and do as a program, as a team, is stay in the moment, whatever that is. We’ll have those opportunities, and then when it comes tip, it’s time to play basketball; it’s time to get focused on the task at hand. We talk a lot about do your job and what your job is in that moment. That’s what we’re going to be asking our team to do.”
On what challenges LSU presents…
“LSU has great athleticism on the perimeter in terms of their guards being able to get shots off. Whether that’s drive, jumpers, taking threes, they can really attack and be aggressive. They have great size in the paint and good athleticism there. They do a good job getting to the boards; they can score in the paint as well. So, they have a balance to attack offensively. They are very consistent, very consistent. They play at their own pace. You aren’t going to speed them up, not going to slow them down. They are going to play. Then they do a good job on the boards with their size and athleticism. Defensively, they just don’t give you anything easy. They protect the paint well and guard. When you have a dynamic player like Khayla Pointer, and you have all these pieces around you, it makes them challenging.”
On what seniors have meant…
“This is a such a unique senior class, because they all have been here different times. Obviously, Rae (Burrell) has had her entire career here at Tennessee. I coached her for three years. I’ve coached Keyen (Green) for two years, and I’ve coached Alexus Dye for one year. All a very different look for this senior class, I think. I love all of them, and they bring something special and unique to this team. It’s been fun to watch the growth that Rae has had both on the court and off the court. She’s a special talent and a special young woman. She’s going to do great things. (I’m) just proud of her and who she has become. Keyen, you can’t really find players that often that have had the impact that she has had on a program without having played an entire season. It’s just an unusual situation, but it speaks to the type of person she is. She has really helped to establish what leadership looks like with our team and our program, and that’s going to carry on. We have a lot of young players who have learned from her, and I think she’s really carved out what it needs to look like here. Alexus Dye was the exact person that we needed on this team this year. To see her be able to take this step and finish her career as a Lady Vol… She makes you smile, she’s got such a kind heart. I’m really proud of her for what she has done in one year here.”
On potential SEC Tournament seeding implications the game with LSU has…
“We haven’t talked about it, because it’s not going to change anything we do. We’re going to go out and play; we’re going to go out and compete. They’re not going to play any harder trying to get a two seed than they are if it’s a different seed. They’re just going to come out and play hard. We don’t really have to get into that. If I felt like I had a team that I had to find motivation for right now, then maybe you start giving them all the info. If they know it they know it, if they don’t they don’t. They are going to come out and play, they’re going to come out and fight, they’re going to come out and compete and battle. That’s the most important thing because at the end of the day, the numbers, the seeding, it’ll take care of itself.”
On Jordan Walker returning…
“We’re really excited. Jordan (Walker) and I, we’ve known this for a little while. We’ve talked about it. We wanted to give her an opportunity to tell her teammates before she made the public announcement. Obviously, we had to do it before Senior Day, or people would put two and two together without her getting to tell people. I’m really excited. Jordan’s another player who’s come in and really helped grow our culture to where we want it to be. She’s tough, she’s competitive, she’s very coachable. She brings it every day. (She’s a) lunch pail kid, she brings it every day. (I’m) proud of who she is and excited for her to come back. That’s a veteran that is consistent, that you can really rely on.”
On the strength of the SEC…
“I have said it all year, this conference is so good, so good. Anything can happen any night. That’s not because the top teams aren’t good, it’s because everybody is good. There’s a lot of parity. I think the COVID year helped our league in terms of keeping people back and getting some veterans that are really experienced and understand how to win and get through long seasons. There are some dynamic new players. It’s just been a solid league. I felt that it would be going into the season. Going into the season we felt that it would be, and that rang true. A lot of teams, like you said, can move still in the standings, and there are a lot of teams from the SEC that need to be represented at the big dance.”
On Kaiya Wynn…
“I thought Kaiya (Wynn) played well. I thought she came in and did some really good things. She had been practicing very well, so it’s just kind of a natural progression from her to come out and do it on the court in the game. I’m excited about the confidence that she was playing with, and that was on both ends of the court. She made some mistakes, but everybody does. We’ll play through those, and hopefully, this will help us moving forward as a team, having another guard that can come out and make some plays.”
On her relationship with Kim Mulkey…
“(Our) paths haven’t crossed an awful lot. We played them when I was at Missouri State, played her team at Baylor. Obviously, she’s done a terrific job. She’s a Hall of Fame coach, won a lot of games. There’s no doubt the look of her team is going to be a certain way. I think, again, just talking about them, Florida and Ole Miss, there is just so much talent in the league. That’s why you see all the parity.”
Tennessee Graduate Forward Alexus Dye
On what her emotions will be like on Senior Day…
“I’m probably going to be a little sad, because I’m going to miss this team. I know this is going to be my last game in TBA. Playing with my teammates for the last time here, it’s going to be emotional.”
On what she’s enjoyed the most about playing for Tennessee…
“I’ve enjoyed the fans, and I really enjoyed my teammates. I really got to meet a group of special people. They’re like my sisters. After I leave here, they’ll be my sisters forever. I’ve enjoyed that.”
On what it meant to be a part of a program like Tennessee’s…
“It was an experience of a lifetime. I never thought I would be here at Tennessee calling myself a Lady Vol. Being here this past season, I learned so much and I gained so much. Kellie (Harper) taught me a lot with the program. She was patient with me, and she just really helped me out. My teammates, I’ve enjoyed them every bit of the ride.”
Tennessee Senior Guard/Forward Rae Burrell
On what will be going through her head on Senior Day…
“What will be going through my head is all of the memories that I’ve made here, and all of the people that I’ve met. Overall, just my entire experience here, and how it’s crazy how it’s basically done. These four years I’ve been grateful for the experience that I’ve had here.”
On what Tennessee means to her…
“Tennessee means everything. Now I am a part of something special for the rest of my life. I’m a Lady Vol for life. Many great people have come here. I can walk with that legacy now. It’s something that’s very special.”
On how to balance emotions of Senior Day with preparing for a game…
“Before the game, you just let it flow through and let it flow out. Then, you get focused for the game. At the end of the day, it’s going to be crunch time when it comes to game time. You can have all of those emotions before the game, but once the clock starts you have to channel it in again.”
Graduate Forward/Center Keyen Green
On how she’s doing with her ACL rehab and how emotional Senior Day will be…
“I’m dealing with it day by day, because that’s really all I can do. My last surgery was Tuesday. It went well, so now I’m just on the road to recovery, taking it one day at a time, being diligent in my rehab. But I don’t think it’s completely dawned on me yet that this is the end, you know? Six years in and less than a month left. It’s kind of crazy to think about, so I actually think it might hit me on the spot. I’m trying not to think about it too much. I’m trying to just stay in the moment and appreciate every moment with these girls.”
On what her time at UT has meant to her…
“It’s been amazing. I tell people all the time that I played in four games last season and played in 17 this season, so what is that, 21 over two seasons? And I still have no doubt that I was meant to be here, because it’s so much bigger than basketball. You know, I’ve had amazing opportunities with my education; I’ve gotten to be around so many different people and network and make connections and relationships that are going to last the rest of my life, and none of that would have been possible without being here at the University of Tennessee, so it’s meant the world to me.”
On being a part of the Lady Vol legacy…
“It is an absolute honor. I am so excited. It’s just… because the name carries so much weight. We had some of our Lady Vol alums in practice today, and they were just beaming with pride for us, and I just can’t wait to be that person. You know, just always cheering on the girls. I mean, I do that now, but being more of an outsider, when I’m not in the everyday grind with them, just being able to support them any way I can, being able to give them advice from my time here. I can’t wait.”
-UT Athletics
