The Lady Vols’ long, slow climb back to greatness and the struggle to uphold a legacy
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Nearly three dozen banners hang from the rafters at Thompson-Boling Arena, the majority dedicated to the Tennessee women’s basketball program — a constant reminder of the history and expectations that come with the Lady Vols.
One banner stands out. It commemorates Tennessee’s AIAW and NCAA tournament Final Four berths — 22 in all spanning three decades, the first in 1977 when Pat Summitt was still Pat Head, with no more than a four-year gap between appearances. The years are arranged vertically in groups of eight, but the entire space allotted for a fourth column remains bare.
Fifteen years have passed since the banner needed to be updated. The last time the Lady Vols advanced to the Final Four was in 2008, when — guided by Summitt and future WNBA MVP Candace Parker — they won their eighth national title.
Hanging opposite the visiting team’s bench, the banner might have once intimidated opponents, a symbol of decades of dominance. Nowadays it’s a reminder of a legacy that was hoped, even expected, to be expanded.
“[At] Tennessee, you’re measuring yourself against greatness every single day,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who has won two of the past five NCAA championships.
And if you don’t know how that was built, you can piss some people off because you know they’re comparing, you know they’re measuring. And they want to relive that