Gray, coaches get a good look at Lady Vols

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, left, talks Friday with forward Amber Gray, who's back after having surgery this summer for a brain aneurysm.

There were many eyes watching Tennessee's first official women's basketball practice of the season.

Friday's workout coincided with a weekend coaches clinic being conducted by Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt and UT men's coach Bruce Pearl. Lady Vols freshman guard Kamiko Williams was at ease with a microphone in hand, introducing herself to the gathering at Thompson-Boling Arena. The actual practice was a different matter.

"I can deal with the crowd, I can deal with the coaches, I just have to deal with myself,'' she said. "I'm my biggest enemy right now."

The Lady Vols began their evening's work at Pratt Pavilion, where they were met by the most noteworthy spectator: sophomore forward Amber Gray. She's returned to Knoxville after undergoing surgery in July to address an aneurysm in her brain.

"It's an amazing feeling,'' she said. "I loved being home with my family, but I missed my team and my coaches and all the other staff."

She also missed having a basketball in her hand.

"I think I might sleep with it tonight,'' she said. "It feels good to have a ball in my hand again."

For the time being, Gray will continue her rehabilitation and do some online classwork. She'll be an encouraging presence at practice, too.

"She kind of pumped us up in the beginning,'' Williams said.

Williams will be needing some pep in her step. The 2 1/2-hour workout underscored the difference between here and her high school days at Clarksville Northeast.

"It's just going to take awhile for my body to adjust to coming from high school, where I could just walk up and down the court, to now, where I can actually sprint up and down the court,'' she said. "It's going to be good."

From Summitt's perspective, Williams' adjustment also will involve reconditioning her play.

"This was really good for Kamiko,'' Summitt said. "She was not really comfortable. I don't think that was because we had people in the stands. It was because she has so much to learn. She played the game by herself for about half the night. You can't fault her for that. That's what she did in high school. That's all she knows. Now she has to learn to be a great teammate and make good reads and make good decisions."

"I just wanted to go get the ball out of her hands and say 'pass it.' "

Summitt figures the practice was an eye-opening experience for fellow freshmen Taber Spani and Faith Dupree, too. It was the first of many. The next practice is this morning.