Jolette Law

Jolette Law is an assistant coach for the Tennessee Lady Vols. She was previously the Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball head coach and was a Harlem Globetrotter from 1991–1994. Florence, South Carolina is her hometown.^[1]

Jolette Law, assistant head coach of the Tennessee women's basketball team, speaking at a WBCA conference in Nashville, Tennessee

College career

Law grew up in South Carolina. She was recruited by C. Vivian Stringer, then head coach at Iowa. Law visited the campus on a day when the mercury dropped to twenty degrees below zero, and Coach Stringer thought she had little chance to get her to commit. Law was still interested, but Stringer had another roadblock—Law's father, who didn't want his daughter going so far away. Stringer explained that he would be able to listen to games on the radio, as the games were broadcast on station WHO. Stringer had heard that the reach of the station was national, but she had never tried it. Jolette's father, Joe, put her to the test. He handed her an old radio and told her to find the station. Stringer tried to find the station, fiddling with the dial and the antenna, but came up empty. She then asked Joe for a coat hanger, to rig up a better antenna. He responded, "Oh, I'll get you anything you want. But unless you get that station on the radio, I'm not letting Jolette go out there." Stringer kept fiddling with the radio and suddenly they heard Larry Cutler announcing the station call sign and adding "home of the Hawkeyes". Jolette went to Iowa.^[2]

In her freshman year, Iowa played North Carolina, as close as they would get to her home. Her father arranged for a busload of friends and relatives to go to the game. However, the game was very close, and Stringer didn't think Law was ready yet for the pressure of a close game. By halftime, when Law still hadn't played, the family section was audibly reacting. Stringer could hear it, but chose to ignore it. Th assistant coaches were nervous, but Stringer told them to ignore it. Near the end of the game, the dissatisfaction rose, and Stringer decided to call Joe over for a word. She also asked Jolette to listen. Stringer said, "She's going to be fine... She's not ready now, but she will be...That's all I have to say unless you're serious about her going somewhere else, in which case we need to have a conversation." Jolette chimed in, "I'm learning a lot, but I'm not ready yet." Law's father backed off. The following year, Law's sophomore year, she won a starting job over a senior, and helped the team reach a number one ranking in the country.^[2]

USA Basketball

Law was named to the team representing the USA at the 1988 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team had a 3–2 record, but that was enough to secure the silver medal. She averaged 5.4 points per game and led the team with eight assists. Law was named to the All-Tournament Team.^[3]

References