KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Head Coach Holly Warlick and Tennessee senior Jaime Nared met with members of the media before practice on Wednesday.  The No. 11 Lady Vols (19-4, 7-3 SEC) are preparing to face Arkansas (12-11, 3-7 SEC) in Fayetteville on Thursday night.

Answering questions from the media, Warlick talked about Nared and Anastasia Hayes receiving SEC Player and Freshman of the Week accolades, respectively, and what she expects to see out of Arkansas. Nared discussed her role as a leader on the team and her performances against Texas A&M and Vanderbilt that garnered her SEC Player of the Week and College Sports Madness SEC and National Player of the Week recognition.

Tennessee vs. Arkansas is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. CT (8 ET) on SECN+.

Head Coach Holly Warlick

On having two SEC Players of the Week:
“I love it. They’re two kids that work hard.  Jaime went through a little stretch that she struggled a little bit, but she didn’t let that affect the other parts of her game. This last week she was awesome, and Anastasia had the chance to show what she can do. I’m really proud of them; they’ve worked hard, and I think the games that they played in show it, and I’m so I’m excited for them.”

On the difference in Jaime Nared over the last couple of games:
“I think she’s understanding that she can get points. At Vanderbilt, she rebounded like crazy, and we needed her to, but a lot of times players will focus on just the offensive end, and I think Jaime understands the importance of the complete game. Once she got past worrying about missing a shot or two, she really focused in on her defensive rebounding. That’s just the type of player she is. She’s going to find a way to figure it out, and she did.”

On Anastasia Hayes being a boost off the bench:
“I love her coming off the bench. She’s something that the other teams don’t see. She’s a penetrator. She’s fast, she can shoot the three and can go to the basket. She gives us that extra boost, and she gets to sit on the bench with the coaches and watch what’s going on and see how the game is going. I think she is so powerful coming off the bench for us.”

On the last time Tennessee had a point guard with as much speed as Hayes:
“Gosh, Shannon Bobbitt? She reminds me a lot of Shannon Bobbitt; she can do those types of things. Her foot speed, her first steps probably are a little bit quicker than Shannon.”

On if Jaime Nared feels like she has a list of objectives to accomplish in each game:
“Here’s what’s great about Jaime: she doesn’t go in the game thinking she has to do all that. She just goes in and thinks about competing and making sure that the team is where they need to be. I don’t think she overloads herself with that stuff. When she steps back and looks at it, I’m sure she does, but she loves to play, she loves to compete, and in her mind that’s all she’s doing. She’s going out, and she’s going to compete, and that’s probably where she needs to keep it.”

On if Nared’s recent struggles affected her leadership:
“I don’t think so; not to the extent that it affected the team. She was worried about herself more than the team, but it didn’t show. In practice, she continued to work hard; in games, she continued to work hard. I think in the games you could see that if she missed a shot she would get down on herself, but she continued to rebound and play defense so I didn’t really notice it that much.”

On Anastasia Hayes being a quiet player and if she’s more vocal in practice:
“She’s not. If I were her, I’d be screaming and yelling and hollering, but she’s a quiet kid, and she does it through her actions. She does get excited, but that’s just how she plays. I want her to be more vocal because she’s our point, but when she steps up her defense and gets after it and causes turnovers, it just feeds our team full of energy. We press, and then we steal, and she’s just giving us a tremendous lift, and at times, it’s a very appropriate time when she takes her game to another level because we need it.”

On what else she would like to see out of Hayes:
“(I’d like to see her) just continue to play as hard as she can defensively. She’s a really good defender when she stays down in the stance. She had a couple of rebounds at Vanderbilt that were key, so I’m not expecting her to be a dominant rebounder, but grabbing the rebounds when she can and just continuing to run it and push the ball, attack, and make people have to play on their heels against us.”

On if she has to make concessions in practice for Russell and Nared since they’re playing so many minutes each game:
“Not a whole lot. We, as a team, probably don’t go up and down (the floor) as much now that we’re in the SEC season and we’re in a cycle. But I will pull them out (sometimes). If they had it their way, they would go every rep, so I sometimes pull them out, and they can go every other rep and get someone else in that needs a little bit more reps than they do. I’m mindful of it, but we don’t really make a big deal out of it because they want to be in, and they’re great examples, but we do kind of watch it.”

On what she expects out of Arkansas:
“They beat Alabama in Alabama. They’ve been in a lot of games that people didn’t think they should have been in, but the team is willing to learn, and I think they’re accepting his (Mike Neighbors’) philosophy, and they play hard.  I’ve said all along that when a team plays hard, it’s a difficult team. When we play hard, we’re a hard team to play against too, so it’s about the effort and what you’re going to bring to the table for that game.”

On the number of three-point shots Arkansas takes each game making them dangerous:

“Absolutely. Especially when they shoot the three, they have penetrators, so it’s difficult. You take away the three, and then they penetrate on you. And for us, we don’t want to get a lot of rotations, so when we start rotating our defense, that’s where they’ll kick out for an open three, or we’ll miss a box out. Our job for the next two days is to try and keep people in front of us, and not let them shoot an open three, and not let them get to a basket that’s uncontested. It sounds simple, and it can be simple, but it’s difficult, and we’ve got to continue to work on it, and we’ve got to do it in games.”

Tennessee Senior Jaime Nared

On what’s been the toughest thing personally for her this season:
“I think just being that consistent leader; I think being somebody that brings it every day, as far as vocally and in practice, and just everything every single day. It hasn’t been as tough, it’s been just more of a challenge. I like being able to lead for our team.”

On what has been the biggest challenge of her leadership role:
“Just being ready every day despite everything that goes on; just being tough and never letting games affect the way you are and the way you lead. It’s something that I like about being a leader, and it’s something I have embraced this year.”

On if her leadership role was going as expected:
“It’s about what I thought. I knew it would be tough. Last year I did it a little bit, but I know my role has expanded a little bit more this year… I have liked it because our team has made it easier this year helping me a lot; our freshmen have helped and so has Mercedes (Russell).”

On breaking out of her shooting slump:
“I wouldn’t say I broke out of it. I made the game easier by getting offensive rebounds, making easy passes and not making the game harder than what it is. I think that’s what got me in the slump. I think when you get down, and you’re losing games, which is the biggest thing for us, you kind of have to evaluate what you’re doing and what you need to get better at. I think by taking a step back, looking at film, watching film with coaches and by myself, and staying in the gym – I always stay in the gym that’s not a question – so, just evaluating what you’re doing to keep getting better.”

On improvement over the last couple games:
“I mean basketball is a simple game. You can kind of overcomplicate it if you don’t just play the way you’re capable of playing. I think I just kind of overcomplicated it for a second. I think we got sidetracked from what we were doing at the beginning of the season, which is why we kind of struggled for that little stretch. I think we’re figuring it out and getting better and better every game again. And that’s what we want to see right now.”

On determining good shot selection based on film:
“I mean, there are good shots for different people. I think different people have a different opinion on what’s a good shot for them and what’s a good shot for another person. A good shot for Mercedes is in the paint, and a good shot for E (Evina Westbrook) may be an outside pull-up, so it’s different for each person.  When you take a step back and kind of see the film and see what you’re capable of doing and what you have been doing, you kind of have to compare, and I mean you see your shots. Once you see them… I have a high basketball IQ, I would say, so when I watch film with the coaches, we talk through it. We kind of discuss what’s a good shot and what’s not a good shot.  And kind of (talk about) what to do to make that shot a better shot, or how to make a pass for a better shot for somebody else.”

On what’s a good shot for her:
“I mean, I’m not one to force shots, really, and I think I did a little bit in that period (start) forcing shots. I think we all started to force things that we weren’t normally shooting. Our best games are when we’re working together, moving the ball, cutting hard, and playing great defense. So easy shots for us, we can get wide open shots if we work the ball around and penetrate and kick, because we have so many different players and people that are capable creators for each other.”

On why the team was forcing shots during that stretch:
“I think we all just… they were big games. We all want to win big games. That’s just us, we want to win big games, and any game in general. But I think when the games were tougher, we started pressing. We knew we had to score and put the ball in the basket. Especially when we had little slumps of like four minutes without scoring, stuff like that. We kind of just started pressing. And that’s something you have to take a step back and look at, and kind of just fix.”

On if the team has focused on things like defense to break out of slump:
“Yeah, I mean, that’s something we can control. Sometimes you’re going to miss shots, but you can control your defense. In the A&M game, we collectively played defensively. I think there were stretches where we didn’t box out, but for the most part, we played well collectively defensively. I mean, that’s just something we can control as a team. It’s not something I specifically focus on.”

On focusing on things like rest considering the heavy minutes she’s playing:
“Yeah, there are a few of us that are playing a lot of minutes. I think always you have to get rest, take care of your body, and get in the cold tub. That’s what players that play for a long time do. When I think of NBA players, I think my Dad told me that Dirk Nowitzki cold-tubbed for 20 minutes every day after practice. So, I think the players that last the longest in this game take care of their body, so that’s of course important.”

On any advice that she’s received from any coaches or assistants:
“I watched film with Dean [Lockwood] after the Mississippi State game, and we just dissected film. We were probably in film for two and a half hours, just watching my shots, and (finding) different things I could do better to help my team. And that’s great. That’s what I ask for as far as a player. If you’re not playing well, or your team isn’t winning games, you have to find different people and different things that you can get better at.”

On leading the team when struggling personally or in games:
“You can’t take a second to look at yourself, because everybody is looking at you to lead them. So, I mean that’s not something that I feel like I do, because I know that I want everybody to do well. I think the biggest things is always being somebody that everyone can come to and communicate with. Even when I’m struggling, nobody will ever see that.”

On the freshmen continuing to play a large role down the stretch:
“[Anastasia Hayes] just got freshman of the week. They have really taken the challenge of freshman year and have just done so well. I’m really really proud of them. I think they all have just… even when times were difficult, when we went through that little stretch, they’re still working hard, and they’re super coachable, and they just work well. They work hard, and that’s what you want out of players in general, especially as freshmen. Even when they haven’t played well, they didn’t let that affect the next game, and I mean that’s what you ask of them. They’re great people, and they just keep getting better.”

UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Trevor Daniel, Rashaan Gaulden, John Kelly and Reginald Kahlil McKenzie Jr.have been invited to the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, which runs Feb. 27 through March 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

NFL.com has 333 participants listed for 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with 70 players invited.

NFL Network will have live coverage of the combine from March 2-5.

Kelly and Daniel will participate in on-field workouts on March 2 with the running backs, offensive linemen, placekickers and special teams participants. McKenzie joins his fellow defensive linemen and linebackers for on-field workouts on March 4 and Gaulden will work out with the defensive backs on March 5.

Daniel added to Tennessee’s long tradition of elite punters. He completed a stellar college career with an outstanding 2017 senior campaign in which he ranked second in the nation with a 47.5-yard punting average (a UT single-season record) with 28 pinned inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and 33 going for 50 or more yards. On Sept. 5, 2017, he was named the Ray Guy Punter of the Week following his performance against Georgia Tech on Sept. 4 when he punted six times for a 47.0-yard average with five landing inside the 20, three fair catches and two going for 50 or more yards. He booted a career-long 72-yard punt against South Carolina on Oct. 14, 2017. Daniel, a former walk-on, finished his career as UT’s all-time leader in career punt average at 45.9 yards per punt. His 200 career punts went for 9,185 yards and he pinned 81 inside the 20 and sailed 76 punts for 50 or more yards.

Gaulden played in 36 career games and recorded 140 tackles (96 solo), 9.5 tackles for loss, 10 passes defended, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. In 2016, he established himself as UT’s starting nickelback and enjoyed a breakout year as a redshirt sophomore, finishing with career highs of 68 tackles, 52 solo stops and 6.0 tackles for loss to go with four passes defended and one forced fumble. As a senior in 2017, Gaulden tallied 65 tackles (38 solo) with 3.5 tackles for loss and posted career highs with six passes defended, three forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered. He recorded the first interception of his career against Florida on Sept. 16, snaring a pass from UF’s Felipe Franks in the fourth quarter.

Kelly established himself as one of the most dynamic running backs in the SEC in 2017. As a junior, he rushed for career highs of 778 yards and nine touchdowns on 189 carries. He also tied for the team lead in receptions with 37 for 299 yards. Kelly’s best game was against SEC rival Florida on Sept. 16, 2017, when he rushed for 141 yards and one touchdown and caught six passes for 96 yards. By October, he was regarded as one of the top offensive players in the nation and was named to the watch list for the 81st Maxwell Award. After showing flashes of his potential as a freshman in 2015, Kelly thrived in his expanded role as a sophomore in 2016, rushing for 630 yards and five touchdowns with a 6.4-yard average. He played in 33 career games and totaled 327 carries, 1,573 rushing yards, 15 rushing touchdowns, 43 receptions and 350 receiving yards.

McKenzie heads to the combine after posting the best numbers of his career as a junior defensive tackle in 2017. Over 11 games, McKenzie recorded career highs of 36 tackles (17 solo), 4.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. He played a major role in Tennessee’s season-opening win over Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, posting a career-high eight tackles. McKenzie, who is the son of VFL and current Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, finished his career with 31 games played, 72 tackles (31 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, two passes defended and one forced fumble.

UT Athletics