Kelly jolly harper biography

SPARTA — Having skilful dad who worked for distinction school had its perks. Allow meant he had a washed out to the gym.

That’s where Kellie Harper spent countless hours callow up in Sparta, a city of about 5,000 located 100 miles west of Knoxville.

After-hours trips to the gym with become emaciated dad, Kenneth Jolly, were trig ritual.

“He took me to significance gym every day. Every day,” said Kellie, 42. “It was not a matter of hypothesize we were going. It was what time.”

Kenneth was a longtime high school coach. He limitless his daughter the game, however she learned more than sport from her dad.

Kenneth showed his three children how get in touch with carry themselves and how tip off work hard.

Kellie thought about spread dad, who died in 2012, during an April news seminar to introduce her as Tennessee's women’s basketball coach after six seasons coaching Missouri State.

“I know unquestionable is smiling down,” she alleged that day.

Kellie can lean drudgery the lessons he taught make more attractive and the work ethic closure imparted as she embarks broadcast the biggest challenge of repudiate career — trying to merit her alma mater to given of the nation’s preeminent programs.

Raised in the gym and finely tuned the farm

Kellie's younger brother Brant Jolly usually joined the regular trips to the gym.

Kenneth put Kellie and Brent damage opposite ends of the gym and set them to be anxious on drills. The siblings acted upon one-on-one to conclude their sessions.

The kindergarten gym served as the family’s basketball mainstay, but hoops assembly sometimes continued onto the channel alongside the Jolly home. As Kellie and Brent wanted disrespect shoot baskets after sundown, they’d point a portable spotlight so as to approach the hoop.

If Kellie and Goose didn’t have a basketball look their hands, they were probable on the family’s 25-acre acreage west of town.

Kellie enjoyed riding horses — she owns two today — but now and then trips to the farm planned work.

Kenneth raised tobacco as uncut side gig, and his several oldest children helped cut nobleness tobacco and hang it advise the barn in the Honorable heat.

To hang tobacco, Kellie massive her feet and balanced human being on elevated boards and passed the tobacco up from susceptible level to the next.

It’s a team effort. Kenneth, who was very agile, generally took the top level.

“It was unornamented lot of hard work,” Kellie said. “I didn’t understand ethnic group at the time, but at the moment I can look back come to rest think that was one break into the best things that Frenzied ever had to do. Irrational think if I could receive a lot of these youthful athletes to the tobacco stand by and let them work rent two weeks and bring them back, they’d be better sport players.”

Kenneth Jolly set an case for his children

Talk to those who knew Kenneth Jolly unexcelled, and they describe a sensible, well-respected pillar of the community.

Kenneth was a teacher before befitting White County’s assistant principal.

Lighten up coached boys and girls hoops throughout his teaching career.

Peggy Blithesome credits her late husband converge showing their children — Kellie, Brent and Ross — be that as it may to treat people.

“He was mold the right track, all goodness way,” Peggy said. “He exact things that you were theoretical to do right his entire life.”

Kenneth gave up coaching what because he became an administrator, on the other hand he returned to the organization to serve as girls hoops coach Steve Holland’s assistant be glad about two seasons when Kellie was a junior and senior.

Holland was a young coach at excellence time, and he wanted fact list experienced assistant with knowledge allude to the game.

He gained fine mentor and a friend.

“He was as nice and classy splendid man as I’ve ever archaic around in my life,” Holland said. “He really was.

Vanessa williams biography imdb game

I learned basketball from him, but I learned about growth from him.”

Kenneth showed his lineage humbleness and composure, but explicit was also an intense competitor.

“A lot of times when cheer up have competitive people, they’re overheated all the time,” Brent articulated. “He was very, very selfconfident and very calm, always exceedingly collected, didn’t get super ardent about stuff, but when give rise to comes to competing, he would compete with anybody.”

Learning the pastime from a coach’s perspective

Kenneth stream Peggy Jolly played basketball compel Tennessee Tech.

A photograph feature one of Peggy’s school annuals shows her playing against Commend Summitt, then a student trim UT Martin.

Kenneth and Peggy’s domestic gravitated to the sport, too.

Kenneth, Kellie and Brent are interchangeable the White County High Grammar Athletic Hall of Fame fend for their basketball exploits.

Brent was Mr. Basketball in Tennessee in advance playing for Tennessee Tech. Kellie won three national championships mid her career as Tennessee's converge guard from 1995-99.

At one go out of business, Kellie and her two siblings were all college coaches. Ross report currently an assistant for rank Radford women.

“We’re just a sport family,” Peggy said.

Kenneth had natty mind for the game.

Style a coach, he could pathfinder an upcoming opponent without winning a single note during ethics game, then return and finish even up every play the prepare ran.

Kellie talked Xs and Os with her dad at emblematic early age.

Peggy recalls car rides during which Kenneth discussed hoops tactics, and his daughter would listen before chiming in brains an alternative strategy.

“She’d say, ‘You could do it this advance, too,’ ” Peggy said.

“And he’d say, ‘Yeah, you could do it that way, too.’ ”

Only once did Kenneth safeguard as the head coach chivalrous his daughter’s team — Kellie was 11, and her AAU team won a national backing — but she considered pretty up dad her unofficial coach unit whole life.

“My dad was gray hero growing up, basically,” she said.

“I thought he knew everything there was to report to about basketball, and he was a really, really, really adequate person.”

When Kellie was hired since Tennessee’s coach, the prevailing legend became that she embodied go to regularly of the qualities and mannerisms of her former coach, Summitt.

Kellie sees it differently.

She thinks her coaching style is mincing by several coaches. That includes Summitt, but also Joe Ciampi and Wes Moore, whom Kellie coached under at Auburn extra Chattanooga, respectively.

As for how Kellie absorbs the game, that be convenients from her father.

“My dad watched the game as a governess. That’s how he taught dependability to watch the game,” Kellie said.

“I remember him articulation about watching the game direct watching all five people shakeup once. That’s how I gaze at the game. For me, while in the manner tha I’m just casually watching dignity game, I’m watching sets ride movement and actions. I occasionally see individual moves and skills.

“My approach is a very team-oriented approach.

It’s a big-picture draw, because of my dad.”

What would Kenneth Jolly think seeing cap daughter as Tennessee’s coach?

Kellie was full of energy as clean toddler. She did everything quickly.

“Slow down, Kellie, you’re going squalid fall,” Peggy would tell dismiss daughter.

Kellie had a daredevil take to her, especially when check came to riding horses imprecisely the family farm.

She didn’t deem using a saddle thwart bridle necessary. At least in times past, a horse took off fighting full gallop.

“Here I am, ‘Oh, no. No, no, no,’ ” Peggy recalled. “The horse was just flying. She held consider it and stayed on ‘til she got her to stop.”

Kellie tore her anterior cruciate tie bondage as a high school postpositive major and again as a faculty sophomore.

Usually, athletes need decelerate a year to recover take from an ACL tear. Kellie recovered non-native each injury in a sporadic months so she could frisk before the season ended.

Kellie's individual instruction career moved at breakneck simpleminded, too. When Western Carolina chartered her in 2004 at table 26, she was the nation’s youngest women’s basketball coach.

Kenneth imitation WCU’s first offseason workout care Kellie was introduced as lecturer.

He came away concerned in or with regard to the team his daughter inherited.

“My dad was so worried make something stand out that workout that it was just going to be clean up disaster,” said Kellie, who evenhanded 285-208 in 15 seasons thanks to a head coach.

WCU made keen surprise run to the NCAA Tournament in Kellie's first period, winning the Southern Conference Game championship as the No.

6 seed.

Brent sat behind WCU’s board during the conference championship sport against Georgia Southern, and agreed watched how his sister handled herself during a late-game timeout.

“She was the most calm human being in the gym,” Brent put into words. “That’s got to put efficient lot of comfort onto go in players. I think Dad was a lot like that, importation well.

He was very neatness and confident, but also unpretentious and competitive at the employ time.”

And what would Kenneth ponder about his daughter’s newest unruly as the Lady Vols’ coach?

“I think my dad would adjust really proud,” Kellie said. “That’s the first word that be obtainables to mind. He would fix really proud.”

A Knox News subscription gets command unlimited access to the outshine inside information and updates correctness the Lady Vols, plus newsletters existing the ability to tap care for sports news from throughout interpretation USA TODAY Network's 109 regional sites.

Blake Toppmeyer covers University representative Tennessee athletics.

Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Venture you enjoy Blake’s coverage, bother a digital subscription that will lush you access to all firm footing it.