Holly Warlick

Born Frances Hollingsworth Warlick in Knoxville, Tennessee, Warlick played for Tennessee under Pat Summitt where she was a three-time All-American point guard and set several school records, one of which still stands (single-season steals record of 141 set in 1978–79). Warlick has the distinction of being the first player in Tennessee sports history to have her jersey retired at the end of her playing career. She was also named to the 1980 US Olympic Basketball Team. Warlick played in the Women's Professional Basketball League for the Nebraska Wranglers. She was named a WPBL All-Star in 1981 when the Wranglers captured a championship, and she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Warlick was named to the team representing the USA at the 1979 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team won all six games en route to the gold medal.

Warlick traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to take part in the 1979 Pan American Games. The USA team won their first five games to advance to the gold medal game, but faced Cuba in the final, and lost 91–86 to take the silver medal. Warlick recorded seven assist for the team.

The National team representing the USA had not won a World Championship since 1957. In 1979, the World Championships were held in Seoul, South Korea. Warlick was one of the twelve players on the squad. In the opening game against host South Korea, the USA team was upset. The USA team then faced Italy, and had a close call, winning but just two points 66–64. In the final game, the USA faced Canada, who had not lost. With the USA 4–1 record, the USA did not simply need to win, but need to win by more than 13 points to secure the gold. The USA ended up winning the game by 16 points, thus securing the gold with only three points to spare. Warlick averaged 1.0 point per game.

Warlick was selected to be a member of the team representing the USA at the 1980 Olympics, but the team did not go, due to the 1980 Olympic boycott. The team did go 6–1 in Olympic Qualifying games, with Warlick scoring 1.3 points per game, along with eleven assist, second most on the team.

Mercedes Russell with coach Holly Warlick after the World University gold medal game in South Korea

Warlick was selected to be the assistant coach of the USA representative to the World University Games held in Seoul, South Korea July 5–13, 2015. The team won all six games, including the championship game against Canada. The first three quarters the game were quite close with four ties and four lead changes. In the fourth quarter the USA exploded for 34 points to pull out to a large lead, and won the gold-medal with a score of 82–63.

In 1981, Warlick enrolled in graduate school at Virginia Tech and became an assistant coach with the Virginia Tech Hokies women's basketball team. Warlick graduated with a M.S. in athletic administration in 1983, with her thesis titled Public Relations Guide to Promote the College Female Athlete. Warlick then was an assistant coach at Nebraska from 1983 to 1985.

Warlick joined Tennessee as assistant basketball coach in 1985. She officially became head coach for the 2012–2013 season although Summitt admitted that Warlick had been "doing the bulk of it" since Summitt's diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in August 2011. Warlick led the Lady Vols to the SEC 2012–13 regular season title. On March 9, 2014, Warlick coached the Lady Vols to their 17th SEC Tournament Championship by defeating Kentucky 71–70.

Holly Warlick's coaching debut was an 80–71 loss to the Chattanooga Lady Mocs in Chattanooga on November 9, 2012. In her first year as head coach, the team had a record of 27 wins and 8 losses. The WBCA recognized this performance by selecting her for the Maggie Dixon Award, which is awarded to the coach with the best performance in their rookie year as a head coach.