No matter the circumstances, there's no way Jennifer Azzi would've ever ended up playing for Tennessee.
The 2009 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee reflected on her recruitment as a star player at Oak Ridge High and said that even if UT had pursued her more vigorously she would've gone elsewhere.
"I never saw myself here,'' said Azzi, who had an All-American career at Stanford and led the Cardinal to the 1990 national championship. "I have the most respect for (Tennessee coach) Pat Summitt. I mean over the years she's treated me like one of her own players.
"I don't know if I was the right fit for the program at that time. There was something about being different. I could go to Tennessee, which is maybe what people would expect or I could go somewhere off the basketball map."
Good Day 4Kay: The 4Kay run/walk Saturday morning drew more than 300 participants including several of the inductees.
Azzi ran in the event while Jill Hutchison and Cynthia Cooper-Dyke walked the course. Cooper-Dyke's son, Brian Dyke Jr., won the 10-under division.
Brenda Hogue, the grand niece of inductee Ora Washington, also walked the course.
The event was staged in honor of Hall of Famer Kay Yow to raise money and awareness for women's cancer research through the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Yow died in January after a long battle with cancer.
Thankful Group: Gratitude was the prevailing theme of Saturday night's induction ceremony. Hogue, who spoke on Washington's behalf, was especially touching.
"Thank you for accepting me because I didn't play basketball,'' Hogue said. "As you can see I'm short. The ball just doesn't go in."
Washington died in 1971.
Azzi thanked her father, Jim, for putting up a basketball goal and repaving the driveway when she was young.
"This is so special to me,'' Cooper-Dyke said. "I spent 10 years in Italy. Nobody knew where I was or what I was doing."
"I never thought God would have such a big plan for such a little ... big girl from Mississippi,'' inductee Jennifer Gillom said.
Giving Her Credit: Sonja Hogg's talents for program building and marketing were instrumental in her induction. Leon Barmore, a co-head coach for two of his eight seasons on Hogg's staff at Louisiana Tech, spoke highly of her coaching credentials, too.
"It wasn't like she sat in her office, she did her fair share and more,'' Barmore said. "She was the coach of record and that's the way it should've been."
Coming Home: East Tennessee isn't much like home anymore for Azzi. Her family has moved away and she lives in Mill Valley, Calif. Still this area feels like home.
"I think I will always feel connected here,'' she said. "For anybody, where you were born there's kind of a soul connection almost. There's something really special."
Man On A Mission: Bill Wall, a member of the Hall of Fame's board of directors, entered Saturday's induction meeting for the 2010 class armed with information on more candidates like 2009 inductee Washington. The former executive director of USA Basketball is the unofficial lobbyist for players from by-gone eras.
"That's one of the things we've prided ourselves on, not missing these kinds of people,'' he said. "There are other people like that."
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
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Comments » 18
volengr#233707 writes:
Do you have to buy tickets in advance to go to this Hall of Fame? I bet parking is chaos. This place has probably paid for itself X 10.
volengr#233707 writes:
I didn't say "first" because I knew this story was HOT, and I didn't want to be one of those tools that said "first" and actually ended up 3rd when like 7 people at once were excitedly going at it on the keyboard at the same time.
volengr#233707 writes:
Third.
volengr#233707 writes:
Also 4th....
Man, I own this story.
BillVol writes:
Jennifer who? And her family now lives where? I can barely even remember the name from eons ago.
ZR writes:
I bet she has a lot of ex boyfriends still here.
98reax writes:
Is it just me or is this article disjointed?
I salute and congratulate all the above mentioned. Thanks for providing years of women's basketball entertainment.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
It was always rumored that Hogg was a figurehead and Barmore did all the coaching.
"It wasn't like she sat in her office"....
blitzshoot writes:
dog days are here
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I thought the same thing! Dan's articles are usually a bit more focused than this.
KCHS63 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
uconnfan1 writes:
happy birthday coach summitt.
littleorange writes:
Boring......
volzz writes:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
volzz writes:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
ncvol17 writes:
The Women's BBall Hall of Fame is interesting. Nice for K town to catch it
bmaples writes:
I could not follow this article, at all. I think there was a story in here about a player from Oak Ridge, and a dinner, and the Hall of Fame, and a walkathon for Kay You, and ...
Sorry, Dan, either some copy editor on drugs got hold of your story, or you just had one too many espressos.
Usually like your stuff, so don't know what happened here.
BigRMan writes:
I do agree with some that this article was somewhat disjointed. However, the apathy and disrespect shown to Jennifer Azzi, a great player, both college and pro is reprehensible, and not befitting the high standards USUALLY adhered to by regular posters at this site. The early days of the WNBA, she guarded Cynthia Cooper about as well as anyone could. Most of the time that wasn't very well,but since Coop is the greatest women's guard of all time Azzi gets a pass. Azzi put most other guards on lockdown: Pennechero, Weatherspoon and others were imprisoned by Azzi's staunch defense.
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