Collier’s court
Lake City native ends 39-year coaching career
-
Shelley (Sexton) Collier handling the ball as at UT Lady Vol vesus Alabama. The Lake City native and Hall of Fame player and coach announced her coaching retirement at a Lenoir City School Board Meeintg on April 9. She had coached for 39 years. - Submitted
-
Then Tennessee Lady Vol guard Shelley (Sexton) Collier presents then President Ronald Reagan with an Big Orange gift as he welcomed the UT team to the White House following the program’s first national title, coming in 1987. - Submitted
-
A young Shelley (Sexton) Collier as a member of the Lake City Elementary School basketball team. - Submitted
Few, if any, East Tennesseans have accomplished more in basketball than Rocky Top native Shelley (Sexton) Collier.
A high school All-American guard, Collier helped legendary Coach Pat Summitt capture her first national championship at Tennessee during Collier’s senior season in 1987.
She was a three-year starter for the Lady Vols.
“I had recruiting interest from over 100 Division I schools,” Collier said.
After her playing days at UT, Collier spent two years as a graduate assistant coach under Summitt before launching a 38-year high school coaching career.
She won six state championships and finished as state runner-up four times, all at Webb School of Knoxville, where she coached for 25 years, including coaching her four daughters.
As a young head coach, she led the Clinton Lady Dragons to the program’s first state tournament appearance in school history during her four years at CHS.
“I went into coaching at Clinton, and I just fell in love with it,” said Collier, who is uncertain of her exact career win total. “I jumped in with both feet and never looked back for 38 years.”
Collier ended her head coaching career this past season at Lenoir City High School, where she led the Lady Panthers to respectability in an extremely tough Division I, District 4-AAA during the past three seasons before retiring. She also coached at Karns High School for five years before going to Webb.
How it all started
As for her love of basketball, Collier said it began early.
“My grandmother got me started playing when I was 8 years old, and I’ve loved it ever since,” she said. “Ollie ‘Pete’ Inman, she was ‘Memaw’ to me.
“I was 8 years old when I first started learning how to dribble,” Collier added. “There were two little girls teams, and we would play for six minutes between the elementary and middle school games, boys and girls.”
The games were arranged by “Memaw” and “another woman named Margaret Stallard.”
“I was one of six siblings, and we were pretty competitive,” said Collier, daughter of Dr. Curtis Sexton and Carol Sexton.
Things then started to get serious.
“I was the only fifth-grader who made the middle school team,” Collier said. “They could take one fifth-grader, and I made it. James Amos was my coach. He was also my eighth-grade English teacher.”
Collier started as a freshman for the Lake City High School Lady Lakers.
“My high school head coach was Tony Cross,” Collier said. “He went on to serve as head coach with Belmont University women for 25 years. He was defensive-minded and fundamentally focused.
“My junior year, we had a really good team,” she added. “We went 35-1. We lost in the state tournament to Chattanooga City.
“But my senior year, in 1983, we became Anderson County High School. Lake City and Norris schools, crosstown rivals, combined and became Anderson County High School.”
As for Summitt first seeing Collier play, the moment came early.
“The first time she came walking into our gym was when I had just finished my eighth-grade year, in the summertime going into my freshman year,” Collier said. “She was recruiting a girl who played alongside me. Her name was Karen Morton.”
The rest is Rocky Top and Anderson County history.
