Tennessee plucked from its program's history to find its next women's basketball coach.

The Lady Vols announced Missouri State coach Kellie Harper as its new coach on Tuesday.

She received a five-year deal worth $750,000 annually.

Harper, 41, is a native of Sparta, Tennessee. She played for Pat Summitt and was the point guard for the Lady Vols' three-peat of national championships from 1996-98.

"I'm excited to have Kellie as our new women's basketball coach," athletic director Phillip Fulmer said in a news release. "She is a Lady Vol through and through. Her love of the game, her care and love for her players, and her loyalty to UT all came through during the interview process.

"Kellie has proven to be a winner at every stop in her career, taking three programs to the NCAA Tournament. She certainly knows the expectations that come with this job, as she has lived it herself."

Harper has gone through ups and downs throughout her 15-year head coaching career. Her stock has perhaps never been higher than it is now after she led Missouri State to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2001 and fourth in program history.

On Monday, she was named the Kay Yow Coach of the Year.

EARLY CHALLENGES:3 questions facing Kellie Harper as Lady Vols coach

The Lady Bears beat Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship to secure an NCAA bid. They earned a No. 11 seed and upset DePaul and Iowa State before losing to Stanford. This was her sixth season coaching Missouri State, where she earned $246,460 annually.

Harper started her head coaching career as a 27-year-old at Western Carolina. After five seasons there, she moved on to North Carolina State, where she was fired after four seasons.

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Harper's all-time record is 285-208, with five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Harper was an assistant at Auburn and Chattanooga before becoming a head coach. Her husband, Jon, has served on her staff throughout her head coaching career after working as an assistant with her at Chattanooga.

Harper, then Kellie Jolly, averaged 6.8 points during her Lady Vols career and played distributor to Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings. She could score when needed, evidenced by her 20 points in a 1998 national championship win over Louisiana Tech to cap a 39-0 season.

Harper earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America honors as a senior in 1999, and she was a second-team All-SEC honoree that year.

Harper joins Summitt and Holly Warlick as the only Lady Vols coaches during the NCAA Tournament era.

"I am incredibly humbled and honored to be named the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols," Harper said in a news release. "Tennessee holds a special place in my heart, and I am excited to embrace the legacy of this proud program. I can't wait to help each player and this team be champions, on the court and off."

Tennessee fired Warlick on March 27 after seven seasons as coach. Warlick made the NCAA Tournament in each season but hadn't advanced past the second round since an Elite Eight appearance in 2016.

UT needed one of the final at-large bids this season to continue its streak of making every NCAA Tournament since the event's inception in 1982. The Lady Vols lost in the first round for just the second time in program history.

Tennessee finished 19-13, failing to reach 20 wins for the first time since 1975-76, when the team played just 27 games.

Harper's task will be refueling the program that Summitt, her former coach, built into a national powerhouse.

Harper has experienced lofty expectations before. At N.C. State, she was tasked with replacing Yow, the legendary coach who compiled 737 career victories, including 680 as the Wolfpack's coach.

Yow died from breast cancer in January 2009 after being diagnosed in 1987. The Wolfpack went outside the program to bring in Harper. She made the NCAA Tournament in her first season but was fired after missing it the next three years. She went 70-64 at N.C. State, including a 23-39 mark in the ACC.

Missouri State has made the NCAA Tournament or Women's National Invitation Tournament in each of the past five seasons. The Lady Bears finished No. 24 in the USA TODAY coaches' poll after their first 25-win season since 2004-05.

When Harper was hired at Missouri State in 2013, Summitt said in a statement that her former pupil "knows the game of basketball. She is an excellent teacher, and her passion for the game is infectious."

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