USA TODAY selected Lady Vol seniors Jordan Horston and Tamari Key for the first team and classmate Rickea Jackson for the second team. That trio had been named previously to SEC preseason teams by the media at-large as well as the coaches.
During her first three seasons on Rocky Top, Harper has set the program on a journey toward the top, opening the 2022-23 campaign ranked No. 4 in the USA TODAY poll and No. 5 by AP, with ESPN projecting the Big Orange for a No. 1 NCAA seed in March. Her teams charted records of 21-10 (10-6 SEC) and 17-8 (9-4 SEC) while navigating pandemic limitations and elevated to 25-9 (11-5 SEC) in 2021-22 despite being dealt a terrible hand with injuries to key personnel. The squad opened the season 18-1, rose to No. 4 in the AP Poll, won the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, finished third in the SEC for the third consecutive season and kept the Big Orange perfect in NCAA berths as the only school to appear in all 40 women’s tournaments.
Harper is 63-27 overall and 30-15 vs. SEC competition during a quick makeover on Rocky Top, ranking third in winning percentage in league games behind only South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and LSU’s Kim Mulkey. Harper and Staley are the only SEC coaches to guide their teams to…
