NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ashley Earley expected the call from Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph. She still needed some time to process that one of her childhood idols was about to offer her a position on Ralph’s coaching staff.
“I couldn’t answer it right away because I had watched her in high school and it was our first time actually having a conversation. I was a fan,” Earley laughed. “It took me a while to gather myself expecting her call.
“She’s just a proven winner. On the court, seven national titles. As a player, national player of the year. She’s been phenomenal since the time that I picked up the phone to over the last few months that we’ve been working together. So to combine that talent, that proven winning and the person – who wouldn’t want to come home to that?”
Earley is making her third stop in Nashville and knows exactly what winning basketball looks like for the Black and Gold.
An All-America and All-SEC selection, Earley scored more than 1,000 points for the Commodores from 2001-05 and played 135 games. She was selected by the Indiana Fever in the 2005 WNBA Draft before moving into a coaching career.
Earley returned to Vandy in 2013 as an assistant coach and helped lead the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Those past successes helped make a decision to leave Penn State this offseason ahead of the 2021-22 campaign an easy one.
“Vanderbilt is home. Being an alum and a Tennessean, just the pride that I have for this University and the people that are still here,” she said on her why a return to Vanderbilt felt right. “It took a little bit of time for me to truly think about it and then come running home.
“I have been here, I know what Vanderbilt is capable of athletically and I know what we’re capable of, obviously, academically. To be able to share those opportunities with other student-athletes – especially now. Such a great time to be back with Dr. (Candice) Lee and all the support that we’re getting with Vandy United. This is the time to be a Commodore.”
Earley hit the ground running as Vanderbilt’s recruiting coordinator and said the excitement about selling the city and the school is at an all-time high. As for her on the court responsibilities the former post player will look to help develop Vanderbilt’s forwards inside Ralph’s coaching system.
To get those student-athletes and the program back to the level it was at during Earley’s time as a player and assistant coach, the Memphis product knows Vandy has a long road ahead given the competitive state of the SEC and the ever-growing parity across the nation. But that’s a challenge Earley is ready to meet head on.
“That’s why we’re here is for the challenge of it,” Earley said. “At the same time it’s understanding the opportunity that we believe that the best student-athletes, the ones that want to be great at everything, they will see that. We will do our job recruiting to convey that.
“And of course anything worth having takes a little time. It takes a lot of hard work, but we’re 100 percent up for that challenge.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.