Lady Vol Zee Spearman credits freedom, honesty in development of game

In Kim Caldwell’s inaugural season on Rocky Top, one of the catalyst for a Sweet Sixteen run was the arrival of transfer Zee Spearman. 

Spearman averaged 11.7 points a game. She scored 399 points on the season which is 52 more than she scored in her first two seasons at Miami. 

Spearman credits Caldwell for letting her out of the box. Giving her the freedom to play her game. For Caldwell, one of the challenges whether it’s a high school player or a transfer is the “unlearning process”. 

“I think they probably have to unlearn and become more uncomfortable doing that,” Caldwell said on The Mike Keith Show. “If they were told they can only do this, this and this on the floor, they maybe have to unlearn those restrictions that were put on them and have to learn how to be more aggressive.”

For Spearman, understanding freedom last season was a process in unlearning and year two is a process of thriving after developing into a key component to Tennessee’s success. 

“She’s playing phenomenal right now,” Caldwell said. “She’s playing her best basketball right now. She is a textbook example of what we try to show all of our transfers and even some of our high school kids, maybe you picked a school based on something other than the style of play. When you’re getting recruited at this level, everything is nice. All the gyms are nice. You have nutrionists, you get fed. You really need to look at the style of play. She did not look at that or maybe went to a place that didn’t fit her very well. Now that we’re playing her out, she’s a completely different player. Everyone has seen her confidence just grow, grow, grow and grow and I think this is going to be her breakout year.”

That confidence has not just automatically happened, Spearman said gaining it was a struggle a season ago even as she was succeeding.  Now, through plenty of hours of the gym, Spearman admits she’s grown. 

“Mentally, for sure. I had a really rough mental path last year, and so I think changing my mental and overcoming it and realizing who I am as a player and continue staying in gym and just showcase that, it really helped me a lot with my confidence,” Spearman admitted.

“Everybody is different. With me, staying in the gym and working on my craft gave me a lot of confidence because I understood, being there alone with coach, I can do a lot. I should not be doubting myself. I should not not have confidence, because I’m really a good player. Just staying in gym and being active really helped me a lot.”

While all the physical work in the gym has been a key to her development so has her relationship with Caldwell. Spearman said learning to be blunt at times has been a help in her growth as a player and her rapport with her coach. 

“I think what strengthens our relationship is anything that I know she knows, anything that’s going on with me, she knows. I feel like we have that relationship to where I can tell her anything, and she knows when I’m not myself, because we have that good, genuine relationship, and that makes everything better.”

Spearman said the bond between the two really grew last last year.

“Going into SEC tournament, actually, I realized I’ve just got to be straight up with her, there’s no way for me to just go around this,” Spearman said. “I have to do the work and put the work in, take anything that she gives me and understand it.”

It’s just been another step in unlearning how to be put in a box.