RALEIGH, N.C. — Tamari Key wasn’t certain how this season would turn out after missing most of 2022-23 with Tennessee due to blood clots in her lungs.
It ends up leading her back to her home state.
“It’s definitely a full circle for me,” Key said Sunday. “To come home, play in front of people that I haven’t seen in a while that haven’t been able to get out to Knoxville to see me play.”
Key and the sixth-seeded Lady Vols (20-12) will face off against third-seeded North Carolina State (28-6) on Monday in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, with a place in the Sweet 16 in Portland, Oregon, at stake.
Key, who is from the Raleigh suburb of Cary, is the starting center for the Lady Vols.
Her matchup with N.C. State’s River Baldwin and Mimi Collins in the lane is expected to be an exciting part to watch as these teams compete to keep their seasons going.
“That’s a great story, Tamari being able to play here, at home for her,” Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said. “What she’s been through medically and to be able to fight through and come back and help lift this team throughout this season and now in the NCAA Tournament. Just really proud of her.”
N.C. State coach Wes Moore said the Wolfpack recruited Key, but there wasn’t a sustained connection.
“I don’t think she ever came on an official visit,” he said. “She’s an unbelievable presence on both ends of the floor and a big challenge when you’re trying to have an interior scoring game, things like that. She definitely impacts the game on both ends.”
Key played nine games last season before she was sidelined. Her return was a process once this season began, with Key logging more than eight minutes in only two of Tennessee’s first 10 games.
“It was just the unknown of what my next steps were, once I got diagnosed,” she said. “But just knowing I had a good crew with us, my teammates were really supportive.”
Key isn’t the only connection between these teams; Moore had better success recruiting Harper on the coaching level than he did luring Key.
Harper and her husband, assistant coach Jon Harper, are former assistant coaches under Moore, who hired them for his staff at Chattanooga.
“Kellie and Jon are two of my closest friends in the coaching field,” Moore said.
Later, Kellie Harper spent four seasons as N.C. State’s head coach before Moore took over in 2013.
TIES THAT BIND
On the court, there are numerous roster crossovers.
Mimi Collins started her career at Tennessee before going to Maryland and eventually to N.C. State.
“Being able to play my old team, I think it’s just a blessing,” Collins said. “I’m very excited to play them.”
Collins said she’s taking it all in, knowing this will be her final home game regardless of the outcome.
“This is my last rodeo,” she said. “So I just want to soak in everything. I think I’m cherishing more my teammates as my sisters more than anything. As an adult, you know you don’t get that back. You get to come to alumni and see your old college teammates, but I just want to cherish this as much as I can.”
Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson and N.C. State’s Madison Hayes used to be on the same team at Mississippi State before following different paths. They're now important starters for their respective teams.
HISTORY LESSONS
Tennessee has a historical record of 30 wins and 3 losses in NCAA Tournament second-round games. These three losses have occurred in the last six tournaments. Overall, in second-round away games, the Lady Vols have a record of 4 wins and 1 loss.
N.C. State has been victorious in 17 straight home games in the NCAA Tournament, without experiencing a loss in NCAA games in Raleigh since 1983. The Wolfpack have made it to the Sweet 16 in four of the last five tournaments.
