Tuesday, Tennessee Lady Vols basketball hosted the Florida A&M Rattlers for their only exhibition game of the preseason. The Lady Vols ran to a 162-63 win over the Rattlers, who are led by Lady Vol great Bridgette Gordon. 

After the game, Gordon spoke with the media at Food City Center and reflected on her history on Rocky Top, and also the message she gave current players on head coach Kim Caldwell’s team. Everything Gordon said is below.

Opening statement

“It was good to be back on Rocky Top. It was so important for my young ladies to understand the madness behind the method. They are wired different. Bringing them back here to good old Rocky Top, going to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, reading about Pat Summitt and what she stood for, this is what it was about. I preach to them all the time that I wanted them to have the same type of experience, the same type of love that Pat gave me, and I want to give it back to them. That’s what she did for me as a person, as a student, then as an athlete.

When I come back here to Rocky Top, yes, my jersey hangs in the rafters. Yes, I went to four straight Final Fours. Yes, I have a gold medal. But when I come back to Rocky Top, it’s my character that people talk about, and that’s so important because that’s definitely the legacy. So I was proud to bring my young ladies back. I want to be a part of the rebuild of the Lady Vols. That was the conversation I had with them.

“Did I want to have that many live-ball turnovers? Did I want the Lady Vols to shoot that many threes? Absolutely not. This was our first true exhibition game. We played against our practice players too, so for them to come here and be on this stage was just great.

I want to wish the Lady Vols the best. This is year four for me, and this is the first time that every young lady on my team, I recruited. We still have three young ladies coming back from offseason injuries, but you let me know what you think. I think we’re going to be pretty good for the SWAC. Against some of the other opponents we have, we just need a little more time to build the chemistry and for them to start trusting the process. Overall, thank you for the warm welcome back. It’s definitely an honor to be back here on Rocky Top.”

How pleased were you with your success from 3-point range, led by your preseason all-conference guards?

“I’m very happy that my young ladies were able to see some success against the Lady Vols. That’s going to build them up and give them confidence, because they think I’m Pat from the old days. I stay on them a lot because my practices are harder than games, so when they come to the game, they’re able to relax.

I told people last year, the young lady who was shooting the threes broke her hand the second game of the season. If we had her at the SWAC tournament in Atlanta, you’d be talking to a SWAC championship coach, but unfortunately we did not have her. So we wanted to continue to build.

"So Maria, to answer your question, it was great to see us shoot the ball. I’ll talk about my little No. 3, that little engine that keeps going and going and going. She was 2-for-2. Her quickness and her ability to handle the ball and want to take on the ball herself, that’s definitely my DNA. Kudos to her. She was at SWAC media day on Monday, Oct. 6, and she learned about her father’s passing at 2:30 in the morning. Immediately I thought about Pat, because it was something so familiar to me.

My first year as a pro, I lost my father, and I was over in Italy. That phone call, that flight back home, if you could understand, that was pretty devastating. So for me to be able to console and talk to my point guard, because I lived that and could be right there with her, it means a lot. But yes, it was just great for my ladies to have some success against the Lady Vols.”

What did you want to tell the Tennessee players when you stayed on the court with them after the game?

“It was an intimate conversation, and it was the same thing I told my ladies. Let the outside noise stay the outside noise. We’re living in a climate where everybody has an opinion. Stay tight. Keep everybody accountable. Be the best version of each one of you. That’s the reason Coach Caldwell brought you here, so be that best version. I need you to tell America to put some respect back on the Lady Vol name.

That’s exactly what I told them, and I gave them my phone number so they can reach out. The platform they’re on started a long time ago. It was the blood, sweat and tears. I remember Summitt saying we’re in the middle of the tough SEC, and we’ll play Louisiana Tech, who was good at that time, and the University of Texas. We were doing it to grow the game. I’m so sad she’s not here physically, but she’s here with us spiritually and watching. The platform they’re on is because of what we established a long, long time ago, and I told them to cherish the moments.

“I told them to look over there in the corner, and you have Lady Vols. Summitt had me knowing every Lady Vol, whether I played with them or not, whether they came before me or after me. I know everybody, and you’ve got to keep that sisterhood going, because that’s a sisterhood everybody’s in. Then I rallied them up and said it again. It starts with freaking defense. Be tough. Let your play do your talking. Stay classy and stay competitive, and you’ll bring Rocky Top and the Lady Vols back to where they’re supposed to be, on top of the hill for Tennessee.”

What did you see from Naomi White?

“Well, you saw what Naomi brings to the table, and that’s why I spoke to Naomi, because she could be that go-to player for them. I told her I had a special moment with her. What we did is we had to go look at them, what they did and the universities they came from, and she was the one we knew was going to be tough for us to match up with. So I gave her a few extra words, and I told her I’m always just a phone call away. She can score the ball. She can shoot it.

“I told her, I tried to get into your head and you allowed me to, and I did that to show you that’s what people are going to do to you. That’s what they do to the greats. But you’ve got to stay even keel. Don’t get too high on your highs, don’t get too low on your lows. Bring what you bring to the table, because you have to be the leader, and wherever you go, they’re going to follow. So be a great leader and lead by example.”

Your point guard had early success against the Tennessee press. What were your thoughts on how you handled it?

“If you watch, and I encourage y’all to go download SWAC TV and watch, that’s all the SWAC does. Run, jump and press. So we knew that was going to happen. This was a great test early on, but I still have to get my young ladies comfortable being uncomfortable, because they think it’s a one-hit wonder. You beat the press, and I’m like, no, they’re going to keep on coming once you beat it. You can’t play around. You’ve got to get downhill at this level. You don’t have two moves. You’ve got one move. You get past your defender, or you’re going to encounter other defensive help.

“So we’ll go back to the drawing board and we’re going to work. I also used this game to see different people handle the ball. You saw No. 34, who is new for me, coming from Division II. Of course she’s going to get her conditioning, but she’s a great passer with a great body. You saw me have her take the ball out. So we’re still working to define who we’ll use against the press. But yes, we expected the Lady Vols to press. Like I said, we didn’t know everybody in the system, but we know Kim’s system, and that’s what I scouted. Then we just took the players, and they did a great job of spreading out.”

How did this exhibition game come about?

“The exhibition came about with Kyra Elzy and Kim Caldwell. I had reached out to Kim and said, if anybody, I’m Mama B. If you feel like the Lady Vol formers are treating you any kind of way, you let me know. Because all we know is blood, sweat and tears. We just want our Lady Vols to be the Lady Vols of old, and we’ll do anything we have to do to support you in any way, shape or form. So Kyra spoke to her, and Kim was very, very sincere. She just didn’t know. You wouldn’t know if you hadn’t been a part of that close connection.

“I know she had some of my foes in the MEAC and some of the other HBCU schools, and I told her, Kim, I was hurt, because in a climate where NIL is huge, this can do wonders for us. If the Lady Vols came to Tallahassee, we would sell out the Al Lawson Center, all 9,000 seats of it, because you’d have Lady Vols coming from everywhere. But there was nothing she could do for the season. She said, what about the exhibition game? And I said, right on. It was a guarantee game, and with all the money I raised, my ladies got to come here and have that experience. So it came from the conversation she and Kyra had. I think they were at one of those Fever tournaments, and we just talked about it. We just want to rekindle.

I want to rally the Lady Vols. If anybody can rally the Lady Vols, it’s definitely me, because they’ll tell you I’m tough as nails. I tell the story all the time. I told my mom, if you’re on the other team, you’re going down. You’re my mom, but you can be my mom after the game. In the heat of the moment, I’m going to run you over. That was just something Pat Summitt always talked about with us. We were going to respect whoever is at the helm of this historic program. So that’s how it came about.”

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