Lady Vols: expected to excel on court and in the classroom

After an early exit from the playoffs last season, Coach Pat Summitt and her staff worked hard to prepare this year's Lady Vols women's basketball team for the upcoming season. Team members were given summer workout programs with an emphasis on both physical and mental toughness. This video on Iron Will, showing staff member Heather Mason working with team members, shows the serious preparation the team put in.

It's paid off. The Lady Vols are now 2-0, starting out with two wins over Big 12 teams, and continue to rise in the rankings after starting at number eight. Their first victory came over Baylor's Lady Bears, who showed up with the much touted freshman Brittney Grimer, a YouTube dunking phenom. There was no time for dunking as the Lady Vols shut down Baylor 74-65. Grimer got into foul trouble and spent the second half of the game trying to figure out how to deal with playing from that position in her first college game.

Last night the Lady Vols beat Texas Tech handily (91-53), despite leaving two team members home in Knoxville. Coach Summitt wouldn't let Kamiko Williams or Alyssia Brewer travel with the team. Why? Classroom issues, said the head coach, reminding us all that this is college sports. This is one of the reasons why I really like the Lady Vols program.

Lady Vols' head coach Pat Summitt told WVLT's sports partners at GoVolsXtra.com that the punishment stemmed from a classroom issue.

"When you come here, you go to class, you sit up and pay attention, you sit in the front three rows. If you don't, understand that you don't play." via volunteertv.com

Way to go, Lady Vols.