Tamari Key returns home as Lady Vols basketball heads to Raleigh for NCAA Tournament

When Lady Vols basketball found out it would be playing in Raleigh, North Carolina, nobody was more excited than Tamari Key.

“We’re probably 10 minutes away from NC State,” Key said. “I grew up going to watch them play, and Duke and UNC. I came back to my phone with a million and one text messages and a lot of people I need to add to my ticket list.”

In her five-year career, Key has never played in her home state. She has never had the chance to impress those who got her to where she is now. Some friends and family have made the trip to Knoxville, but everyone has not been able to do so.

That all changes on Saturday when the No. 6 seed Lady Vols take the floor against No. 11 seed Green Bay in the NCAA Tournament.

“A lot of people I grew up with back home aren’t always able to get out here,” Key said. “So just to go home and be able to play for them, my old volleyball coach, my old basketball coach, my old teachers from elementary school, just everybody that had an impact in my upbringing.”

Key has gone through a long rehabilitation process since being sidelined in December 2022, missing most of the 2022-23 season. She started this season playing limited minutes and has improved all season. Now, she is starting every game and playing significant time, averaging 20 minutes per game since rejoining the starting lineup at the start of February.

Now, all that hard work pays off. She will be playing in the NCAA Tournament in front of friends and family for the first time as a Lady Vol.

“I already know she’s going to have a lot of people there, so I’m really excited for her to be able to finally get to play there within her five years here,” Tennessee forward Sara Puckett said. “So I’m just really excited for her to put on a show for all of them.”

Key has been a large part of Tennessee’s production, especially on the boards. She averages five rebounds per game since returning to Tennessee’s starting five. Her production has been very important to the Lady Vols, especially late this season.

Now that the seeding has been earned, the Lady Vols need to use it to get far. Key will be important to that goal again.

“I’m just really excited to have her back out there and affect the game in many different ways that people may have not seen last year,” Puckett said. “So I’m just really excited to see what she’s going to do this year.”

In her three tournament games in 2022, Key averaged 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Vols, including a double-double in the first round against Buffalo. After not playing in the 2023 event, Key is ready to play again in the 2024 NCAA Tournament back where her basketball career began.

Key welcomes the challenge, ready to impress those who meant so much to her.

“I’m excited,” Key said. “I don’t think I’m nervous yet. Maybe the nerves will kick in come game day, but right now I’m just excited to be able to go home and play.”