Holly Warlick is out as Tennessee’s women’s basketball coach.

Athletic director Phillip Fulmer announced the coaching change on Wednesday, four days after Warlick completed her seventh season as the Lady Vols' coach.

"Holly and I met this afternoon, and I informed her of the decision to change leadership within the program," Fulmer said in a news release. "Holly has dedicated most of her adult life to the University of Tennessee and the Lady Vols program. She loves Tennessee, and Tennessee needs to always love her back. She was front and center as this program developed into the model for women's intercollegiate excellence.



"While it certainly stings to make this decision, I am charged with doing what I believe is best for this storied program. It's important to all of us that Lady Vols basketball maintains its status among the elite."

Tennessee's season ended Saturday with an 89-77 loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Vols finished 19-13, marking their worst season in the NCAA Tournament era.

Assistant coach Dean Lockwood will oversee the program until Tennessee hires Warlick's replacement.

► Warlick's replacement:Jeff Walz, Kellie Harper, Tina Langley among names to monitor

Tennessee continued its streak of making every NCAA Tournament in the event's history, earning one of the final at-large bids for its 38th selection. The Lady Vols are the nation's only program to make the NCAA Tournament every year since its inception in 1982.

But that was about the only good thing that could be said for a season in which Tennessee failed to reach 20 wins for the first time since 1975-76, when only 27 games were played.

Program declined after Pat Summitt's departure

Although Warlick, 60, made the NCAA Tournament in each of her seasons and reached the Elite Eight three times, the Lady Vols are no longer the program that legendary coach Pat Summitt built to national prominence.

This marked the third straight year Tennessee has failed to reach the Sweet 16. It's just the second time in school history that the Lady Vols did not advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee had other blemishes. It endured a six-game losing streak during January, matching the longest losing streak in program history.

The Lady Vols recovered and bolstered their résumé before losing to Vanderbilt 76-69 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Feb. 28. The Commodores entered the game with only one SEC victory. UT came into the game with a 33-0 record against Vandy in games played in Knoxville.

Warlick was All-American for Lady Vols

Warlick, a Knoxville native and former Lady Vols All-America guard, is entrenched in the history of the program she departs. After playing for Summitt, she was on her staff for 27 years, including seven as associate head coach. Her playing number 22 is retired and hangs in the rafters at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Warlick was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech and Nebraska between her stints playing and coaching for Summitt.

Warlick went 172-67 as Tennessee’s head coach.

"I was part of this program. I played here," Warlick said after Saturday's loss when asked what she'd like her legacy to be if Tennessee made a coaching change.

"I obviously coached with Pat Summitt and (became) head coach, and just (remember) my passion for the program and passion for the game. I think it's a great game. If I had a daughter, I'd send my daughter — whether I'm coaching or not — I'd send her to the University of Tennessee."

► Adams:Tennessee made right decision to hire Holly Warlick and her departure is right call, too

Tennessee hasn’t reached a Final Four since 2008, when Summitt won the last of her eight championships.

The Lady Vols won at least 27 games in each of Warlick's first three seasons before the program started to fall back to the pack.

Last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon State at Thompson-Boling Arena ended UT’s 57-game home winning streak in the tournament. And Tennessee's No. 11 seed this season was its worst ever NCAA seed.

A season of struggles

Tennessee had an inexperienced roster. Seven of the 11 players are freshmen and sophomores. The roster featured three seniors. One is graduate transfer Lou Brown, who suffered a season-ending knee injury before the season started.

That youthfulness didn’t hamper the Lady Vols early in the season. The Lady Vols won 12 of their first 13 games, including a road victory over then-No. 12 Texas. Tennessee's only loss during that stretch was a 10-point defeat to Stanford in a matchup of top-10 teams.

The Lady Vols no longer looked like a top-10 team — or even an NCAA Tournament team — throughout most of January. A 66-64 home loss to Missouri on Jan. 6 sent the team into a spiral.

Tennessee went 7-9 in SEC games to earn the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. The Lady Vols beat No. 9 seed LSU in their SEC Tournament opener before getting trounced by Mississippi State in the quarterfinals.

Warlick's contract

Warlick’s contract runs through April 30, 2022. She received a new contract in August.

She was earning $690,000 annually. Her contract calls for her to receive one-third of the salary remaining on her contract if she was fired without cause, equaling a buyout of about $710,000.

When Warlick's contract extension was announced, Fulmer said there was "no one better suited" to lead the program than Warlick.

Now, Fulmer will be tasked with finding a replacement who can restore the Lady Vols to prominence.

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