How Tennessee softball has been reminded of trip to Oklahoma City for WCWS all season

Tennessee softball players have had their eyes on a return to Oklahoma City since the season started.

Not just figuratively, but in a literal sense, too. The whiteboard in their clubhouse has a path drawn from a cutout of the state of Tennessee to the site of the Women's College World Series, and each player wrote their own message along the path to Oklahoma City.

Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said the inspiration for the whiteboard mural came from one of the books the team reads together.

"In early January, we just asked them to write something up there that exemplifies how you want to play, and if people are watching you, what you want them to see," Weekly said May 13. "So we're going to revisit that today and ask them, what do you think about what you've written? Is there something you want to refine, is there something you can add to that to really give you that extra nudge you might need as we go through postseason?"

Tennessee (40-14) begins the postseason hosting Miami (Ohio), Ohio State and North Carolina in an NCAA regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. The No. 7 seed Lady Vols will face Miami (35-24) on May 16 (1:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network). Ohio State (43-12-1) and North Carolina (40-15) play at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.

The season marks the 20th straight year that UT has hosted an NCAA regional. If the Lady Vols advance to the super regional, they will also host the three-game series.

Sophomore outfielder Gabby Leach said the whiteboard is a constant reminder whenever the team has a meeting at the clubhouse.

"We wrote our why's and what really keeps us going throughout the season," Leach said. "It's just a good reminder to have up there ... knowing our why and why we're doing this, why we're doing this for each other."

Tennessee has been to the WCWS eight times. The Lady Vols last appearance was in 2023 when they made a run to the semifinals before falling to Florida State. Tennessee has never won a national championship, although UT finished as WCWS runners-up twice in 2007 and 2013.

Reminders are part of Weekly's duties going into the NCAA tournament, which she wants the Lady Vols to see as a new season. Everyone has a clean slate, and Tennessee can reset from an underwhelming end to the regular season.

But that won't sink in unless Weekly consistently delivers the message every day. So they talk about it before, during and after every practice.

"I read something not too long ago that a leader's job is not so much what you call CEO, but CRO – chief reminding officer," Weekly said. "And that one of the most important things you can do with and for the people in your organization is to keep reminding them of who we are, who we want to be, what our values are. So I can't just say it once, that it's 0-0 and nothing matters up to this point, and you can be whoever you want to be from here on out."

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.