Tennessee center Isabelle Harrison, a former Hillsboro High star, suffered a torn ACL two weeks ago, ending her Lady Vols career and hurting the team’s chance at a deep NCAA Tournament run.

-- Ap Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

KNOXVILLE – There is a bronze statue of legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt standing proudly across the street from Thompson-Boling Arena.

Summitt’s arms are crossed and she has a smile on her face. Thousands of Lady Vols fans have walked past the Summitt statue since it was unveiled Nov. 22, 2013.

It is a tribute to Summitt and her success at UT, and perhaps a reminder of the glory days of Lady Vols basketball.

Summitt won eight national titles and made 18 Final Four appearances before stepping down as the Lady Vols’ coach in April of 2012, announcing she had early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

UT hasn’t reached the Final Four since it won back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, and it hasn’t had an Associated Press first- or second-team All-American since Candace Parker in 2008.

Will this be the year the Lady Vols end their Final Four drought?

It will be difficult after their best player, 6-foot-3 senior center Isabelle “Izzy” Harrison, suffered a torn ACL in her right knee during the Feb. 15 victory against Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Harrison, who led Nashville’s Hillsboro High School to a 36-1 record and Class AAA state championship in 2009, was the Lady Vols’ leading scorer (12.8) and rebounder (9.1) and a projected first-round pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft.

Four nights after Harrison was injured, the Lady Vols beat Alabama 77-56 at Thompson-Boling Arena, and UT coach Holly Warlick talked after the game about moving forward without her team’s leader.

“I told (the players) in the locker room, ‘Izzy is 13 points in the SEC and nine rebounds,’ ” Warlick said. “I’m not expecting Cierra (Burdick) to make up 13 points for Izzy. I’m not expecting Bashaara (Graves) to get nine rebounds. It is by committee.

“We went through [the roster] and each of them had to score two more extra points. Some two points, some one rebound to take up the slack for what Izzy has done. For me to sit here and think that Ariel (Massengale) and Cierra are going to take up all the slack (of) Izzy, that is not realistic. That is not fair to those two.”

Massengale, a 5-7 point guard from Bolingbrook (Ill.) High School, and Burdick, a 6-2 forward from Butler High School in Charlotte, N.C., make up the three-player senior class with Harrison.

“Can they lead this team? Absolutely,” Warlick says of Massengale and Burdick. “Can they score more points and get more rebounds? Yes, but they have to have help. That is what we need from our whole team.”

Massengale scored 17 points against Alabama and was averaging 10.7 points (second-best on the team) going into Monday’s game when No. 6-ranked UT (23-3, 13-0 SEC) played at No. 2 South Carolina (25-1, 13-0).

Burdick had 16 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Vols beat Alabama for the 41st consecutive time. She was the team’s third-leading scorer (10.5 points) and second-leading rebounder (6.9) entering the South Carolina game.

“Everybody has to step it up a little bit more,” Warlick says. “Izzy was the heart and soul of our team. Now, it is a new challenge for us. We can do it. Then you see Izzy sitting behind the bench talking the whole time. She is very much still a part of our team. She is going to be a great leader for us as long as our kids keep listening.”

They should be inspired by a bitter ending to the 2013-14 season, when the No. 1 seeded Lady Vols lost to No. 4 Maryland 73-62 in the Louisville (Ky.) Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

It knocked UT out of Final Four contention for the sixth consecutive year. Even worse for the Lady Vols and their faithful, the Final Four was played in Nashville last year – and won by UConn, which finished 40-0 after beating No. 2-ranked Notre Dame 79-58 in the title game.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma won his ninth national title – surpassing Summitt for the most in women’s college basketball – and solidified his claim as having the No. 1 program in the nation.

No longer is UT the biggest rival of UConn. The series between the Lady Vols and Huskies ended in 2007 after UT filed with the SEC office a lengthy complaint regarding UConn’s recruiting during a five-month period in 2006.

Although the name was redacted, former top recruit Maya Moore’s visit to the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., while being recruited by UConn was apparently referenced in the complaint.

Don’t look for the series to resume soon. Auriemma wasn’t warm to the idea when the subject came up in December during an UConn media availability session.

“That game doesn’t mean anything to me,” Auriemma says. “It might mean a lot to them. It might mean a lot to a lot of people. And those people are getting less and less each year.

Tennessee’s Mercedes Russell, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, could have stepped in for Harrison but is redshirting this season while recovering from surgery to both feet. As a freshman, Russell played in all 35 games, starting five, and led UT in blocked shots with 40 and field goal percentage at 59.6 percent (93-156). She scored in double figures nine times.

-- Ap Photo/John Bazemore

“We’ve moved on. Our rivalry with Notre Dame is just as good, if not better, than any rivalry we’ve ever had with anybody. And if somebody’s out there actively trying to put that game together, I wish them all the luck in the world. Me, personally, if it never happens I could care less. I could care less. And I’m not going to bend over backwards to make it happen either.”

So fans wanting a rematch can hope for one in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, and that will only happen if each team makes a deep run in the bracket.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee announced Feb. 11 the Lady Vols, UConn, South Carolina, and Notre Dame would be the tournament’s No. 1 seeds if the season ended on the day of the committee’s meeting. In that case, UT’s potential matchup with UConn wouldn’t happen until the Final Four.

Can the Lady Vols get the No. 1 seed and reach their Final Four destination?

I asked that and several other questions to Dan Fleser, who is in his 24th year as the UT Lady Vols’ basketball beat writer.

Q: Can the Lady Vols make a deep postseason run without Harrison, and how does the team make up for her loss?

A: “It will be harder, but not impossible for Tennessee to make a deep tournament run without Isabelle Harrison. She was their leading scorer and rebounder. That said, the Lady Vols have had decent balance statistically and have experienced playing without Harrison, either because of injury or foul trouble.’’

Q: Tennessee was such a dominant team for years under Pat Summitt. When did you see a shift in power to UConn and other schools, and why did that happen?

A: “I started detecting a possible shift after the Lady Vols’ last championship (in 2008). All of a sudden UConn was winning multiple championships, and Tennessee couldn’t get back to the Final Four. An obvious reason was UConn started signing the very top players in the country on a consistent basis and raised their level of play. One reason we’ll never know is whether Summitt’s health played a factor in her effectiveness before she announced her diagnosis.’’

Q: The Lady Vols haven’t been to the Final Four since winning NCAA Championships with Candace Parker in 2007 and 2008. Why the drought?

A: “A big reason why UT hasn’t been back to the Final Four is 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner. They were up against her and Baylor twice in the tournament. Another time they lost to Notre Dame and All-American Skylar Diggins. The absence of a first-team All-American player has hurt the Lady Vols’ chances against such teams.’’

Q: What will it take for the Lady Vols to get back to the Final Four and win the championship?

A: “Teams that are led by top-level players tend to prosper in the postseason. Before Harrison’s injury, I thought this Tennessee team was defensive-minded enough and competitive enough to really test that theory. I’m not sure now.’’

Q: UT hasn’t had a first-team All-American since Parker. Do you need a star player such as Parker to win an NCAA title?

A: “I believe star power is the best way to fuel championship drives. Next season, Tennessee will have center Mercedes Russell back from multiple foot surgeries and wing Diamond DeShields [will be] eligible after transferring from North Carolina. They were the two top-ranked players in their recruiting class.’’

Q: How would you rate Holly Warlick’s coaching job, considering she had to follow a legend like Summitt?

A: “Even I sometimes forget the challenge Warlick has undertaken as Summitt’s replacement. She inherited a team that lost five seniors, as well as a coaching legend.

“The Lady Vols were ranked No. 20 going into her first season and then were upset by Chattanooga in her first game. Given the difficult circumstances, and the fact Warlick had no prior head coaching experience, I think she’s done a commendable job. For me, recruiting is the biggest variable going forward.’’

Q: Where were you when you heard Pat had early-onset dementia and what was your reaction?

A: “I was sitting in an athletic department official’s office when I heard. My first reaction was shock, but as I processed the news it explained some things that had been happening that seemingly were inexplicable.’’

Dave Link is a freelance journalist living in Knoxville.