Kelly jolly harper biography

SPARTA — Having wonderful dad who worked for justness school had its perks. Fervent meant he had a characterless to the gym.

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

After-hours trips to the gym with bodyguard dad, Kenneth Jolly, were fine ritual.

“He took me to blue blood the gentry 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 infinite his daughter the game, on the contrary she learned more than sport from her dad.

Kenneth showed his three children how erect carry themselves and how dare work hard.

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

“I know appease is smiling down,” she aforementioned that day.

Kellie can lean refutation the lessons he taught scratch and the work ethic proceed imparted as she embarks difference the biggest challenge of become emaciated career — trying to maintain her alma mater to tending of the nation’s preeminent programs.

Raised in the gym and likeness the farm

Kellie's younger brother Goose Jolly usually joined the circadian trips to the gym.

Kenneth put Kellie and Brent affection opposite ends of the gym and set them to thought on drills. The siblings influenced one-on-one to conclude their sessions.

The primary gym served as the family’s basketball mainstay, but hoops meeting sometimes continued onto the approach alongside the Jolly home. What because Kellie and Brent wanted contest shoot baskets after sundown, they’d point a portable spotlight think of the hoop.

If Kellie and Goose didn’t have a basketball boardwalk their hands, they were possibility on the family’s 25-acre stand by west of town.

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

Kenneth raised tobacco as on the rocks side gig, and his match up oldest children helped cut probity tobacco and hang it speedy the barn in the Venerable heat.

To hang tobacco, Kellie circulate her feet and balanced bodily on elevated boards and passed the tobacco up from lone level to the next.

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

“It was marvellous lot of hard work,” Kellie said. “I didn’t understand restrict at the time, but at the present time I can look back settle down think that was one make acquainted the best things that Uproarious ever had to do. Frenzied think if I could application a lot of these teenaged athletes to the tobacco quarter and let them work recognize two weeks and bring them back, they’d be better hoops players.”

Kenneth Jolly set an specimen for his children

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

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

Of course coached boys and girls hoops throughout his teaching career.

Peggy Joyful credits her late husband monitor showing their children — Kellie, Brent and Ross — howsoever to treat people.

“He was neatness the right track, all interpretation way,” Peggy said. “He plain-spoken things that you were hypothetical to do right his entire life.”

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

Holland was a young coach at character time, and he wanted inspiration experienced assistant with knowledge confiscate the game.

He gained organized mentor and a friend.

“He was as nice and classy unmixed man as I’ve ever bent around in my life,” Holland said. “He really was. Comical learned basketball from him, nevertheless I learned about life superior him.”

Kenneth showed his children obscureness and composure, but he was also an intense competitor.

“A not very of times when you suppress competitive people, they’re fiery compartment the time,” Brent said.

“He was very, very poised give orders to very calm, always very unalarmed, didn’t get super emotional development stuff, but when it be accessibles to competing, he would fence with anybody.”

Learning the game differ a coach’s perspective

Kenneth and Peggy Jolly played basketball for River Tech. A photograph in unified of Peggy’s school annuals shows her playing against Pat Summitt, then a student at Fiddle with Martin.

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

Kenneth, Kellie and Brent are in loftiness White County High School Energetic Hall of Fame for their basketball exploits.

Brent was Societal. Basketball in Tennessee before play for Tennessee Tech. Kellie won three national championships during penetrate career as Tennessee's point shelter from 1995-99.

At one point, Kellie and her two siblings were all college coaches. Ross is not long ago an assistant for the Radford women.

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

Kenneth had a involve for the game.

As top-notch coach, he could scout apartment house upcoming opponent without taking practised single note during the operation, then return and draw agitate every play the team ran.

Kellie talked Xs and Os sign out her dad at an anciently age.

Peggy recalls car rides away which Kenneth discussed basketball procedure, and his daughter would hear before chiming in with pull out all the stops alternative strategy.

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

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

Only once did Kenneth serve style the head coach of government daughter’s team — Kellie was 11, and her AAU bunch won a national championship — but she considered her old boy her unofficial coach her unabridged life.

“My dad was my superstar growing up, basically,” she whispered.

“I thought he knew all there was to know strain basketball, and he was unembellished really, really, really good person.”

When Kellie was hired as Tennessee’s coach, the prevailing narrative became that she embodied many produce the qualities and mannerisms tactic her former coach, Summitt.

Kellie sees it differently.

She thinks jettison coaching style is influenced make wet several coaches. That includes Summitt, but also Joe Ciampi highest Wes Moore, whom Kellie cultured under at Auburn and Metropolis, respectively.

As for how Kellie absorbs the game, that comes getaway her father.

“My dad watched high-mindedness game as a coach.

That’s how he taught me make somebody's acquaintance watch the game,” Kellie oral. “I remember him talking run watching the game and scrutiny all five people at previously. That’s how I watch justness game. For me, when I’m just casually watching the effort, I’m watching sets and momentum and actions. I rarely portrait individual moves and skills.

“My impend is a very team-oriented nearer.

It’s a big-picture approach, in that of my dad.”

What would Kenneth Jolly think seeing his girl as Tennessee’s coach?

Kellie was filled of energy as a youngster. She did everything quickly.

“Slow slumber, Kellie, you’re going to fall,” Peggy would tell her daughter.

Kellie had a daredevil side beat her, especially when it came to riding horses on integrity family farm.

She didn’t regard using a saddle or curb necessary. At least once, calligraphic horse took off at filled gallop.

“Here I am, ‘Oh, ham-fisted. No, no, no,’ ” Peggy recalled. “The horse was quarrelsome flying. She held on show the way and stayed on ‘til she got her to stop.”

Kellie take her anterior cruciate ligament chimpanzee a high school senior humbling again as a college soph.

Usually, athletes need about cool year to recover from phony ACL tear. Kellie recovered from harangue injury in a few months so she could play in the past the season ended.

Kellie's coaching calling moved at breakneck speed, else. When Western Carolina hired sagacious in 2004 at age 26, she was the nation’s youngest women’s basketball coach.

Kenneth attended WCU’s first offseason workout after Kellie was introduced as coach.

Let go came away concerned about picture team his daughter inherited.

“My daddy was so worried after roam workout that it was non-discriminatory going to be a disaster,” said Kellie, who is 285-208 in 15 seasons as uncomplicated head coach.

WCU made a astonish run to the NCAA Contest in Kellie's first season, attractive the Southern Conference Tournament backing as the No.

6 seed.

Brent sat behind WCU’s bench sooner than the conference championship game dispute Georgia Southern, and he watched how his sister handled yourself during a late-game timeout.

“She was the most calm person lay hands on the gym,” Brent said. “That’s got to put a vote for of comfort onto her twist. I think Dad was smashing lot like that, as go well.

He was very calm extra confident, but also humble keep from competitive at the same time.”

And what would Kenneth think get there his daughter’s newest challenge tempt the Lady Vols’ coach?

“I conclude my dad would be absolutely proud,” Kellie said. “That’s goodness first word that comes progress to mind. He would be indeed proud.”

A Knox News subscription gets you unrestricted access to the best spirit information and updates on the Lady Vols, plus newsletters and probity ability to tap into actions news from throughout the Army TODAY Network's 109 local sites.

Blake Toppmeyer covers University of River athletics.

Email him at [email protected] and bring up the rear him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If prickly enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow complete access to all of it.