As Nicky Anosike watched the Lady Vols at the Girls Inc. basketball clinic Sunday, she couldn’t help but be reminded of herself and her own teammates.
The players were split between officiating and coaching opposing teams in a scrimmage to end the basketball clinic put on by Girls Inc., where Anosike is the athletic director. Zee Spearman, an official, threatened to hand out technicals if Kaniya Boyd and Samara Spencer, who were coaching, didn’t stay off the court. Not coincidentally, Boyd and Spencer had the most to say about their teammates officiating.
“I need a whistle,” Spearman said. “Y’all shouldn’t be on the court!”
Boyd and Spencer were the more animated coaching duo in the gym at Austin-East, objecting to nearly every foul call and chirping at Spearman and the other officials, Favor Ayodele and Jillian Hollingshead.
The Lady Vols looked like they were having just as much, if not more, fun than the young players on the court.
“I was thinking as I watched them bicker back and forth and kind of get in each other’s faces – we were the same way when we played,” said Anosike, who played at Tennessee from 2004-08 with Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle and Alex Simmons. “It was a healthy competition but we all knew it was love at the end of the day.”
Anosike and her teammates won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2007 and 2008. It’s the last time Tennessee has won a national title, or made a trip to the Final Four. Now, with a new coach, new faces and a new style of play, the Lady Vols are hungry to bring that standard back to Knoxville.
“What I see the current Lady Vols building just reminds me of what we had back when I was a Lady Vol, and it’s just so special,” Anosike said. “Watching them made me want to go back, even if it was just for a few minutes. I miss my girls, and to see the Lady Vols, a sisterhood now, they don’t realize that is going to travel with them their whole lives.”
Tennessee players spent an hour and a half with a gym full of young girls Sunday, volunteering to help run the clinic with Anosike and former Lady Vol Gwen Jackson, who’s now the girls basketball coach at Austin-East. When Anosike approached Jackson about doing the clinic at Austin-East, Jackson didn’t hesitate.
“Gwen is the most supportive person. She’s so loving, she’s so kind,” Anosike said. “She just jumped right in, and that’s what Lady Vols are about, is helping each other when we’re in need and giving back.”
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Jackson, who played for Tennessee from 1999-2003, has coached at Austin-East for 12 years. She appreciated the team attending the camp and keeping the values of the program alive. It’s important for the young girls in the community to meet the Lady Vols and to spend time and connect with them, because that’s how they further the Lady Vol legacy – by helping inspire the future Lady Vols.
“They love the community, and they were at home,” Jackson said. “They love the kids, and it’s authentic. You don’t see that a lot of places.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her atcora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nicky Anosike sees similarities between Lady Vols and her former teams
