Alma Adams

Former Lady Vols basketball player Jody Adams is returning to her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee.

Adams was hired as the new girls basketball coach at her alma mater, Bradley Central High School.

She replaces Jason Reuter, who retired after 16 years and four state championships.

Adams previously coached at the collegiate level for 32 years, including 13 years as a head coach.

When Jody Adams began the nearly 1,500-mile trek from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Cleveland, Tennessee, she planned to take a year off and be with her family.

The former Lady Vols basketball point guard, who won a national championship in 1991 under legendary coach Pat Summitt, just wanted to go home and serve in the community. Adams was fired by the new athletic director Joe Fields at New Mexico State after four seasons and a 57-71 record on March 8.

Adams only saw her family for a week or two during the year while coaching. After 32 years in the coaching profession, she wanted to be able to make it to graduations, birthdays and holidays with her nieces and nephews, seven of whom live in Maryville.

"I've been wanting to get back home," Adams told Knox News. "I can't tell you how many times (I've wanted) to be back home and serve at home."

Adams took a picture with her dog in her jeep as she crossed the border into Tennessee. She posted it on Facebook and didn't think anything of it until people started blowing up her comments, asking if she was taking the job at her alma mater, Bradley Central High School.

Adams wasn't aware the girls basketball job was open. Her brother Travis, who's the Bradley Central baseball coach, didn't even tell her. But it was the perfect opportunity for Adams, and she was announced as the Bradley Central girls basketball coach on May 20.

"It's an alignment, right? It's just been a blessing, and I just look forward to serving here and being the head coach," Adams said. "It has been crazy. The support, the reaching out of coming home has just been overwhelming. I literally can't put into words."

Adams replaces Jason Reuter, who retired after 16 years at Bradley Central that included a 489-46 overall record and four state championships.

Adams graduated from BCHS in 1989, having scored 2,478 points in her career before playing for the Lady Vols from 1989-93. She averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds and a steal as the starting point guard when Tennessee won its third national title her sophomore year.

She spent 13 years as head coach at Murray State, Wichita State and New Mexico State, winning eight conference championships with 10 postseason appearances. Adams also spent 18 years as an assistant and associate head coach.

Summitt and Jim Smiddy, who Bradley Central's arena is named after, both taught Adams that it's not who you are, it's how you treat people.

When Adams was packing, she came across Summitt's letters to her. Summitt encouraged Adams to be who she was – team-oriented, humble, a giver.

"She could see our hearts and who we are, but that was her heart," Adams said. "She was humble. She was caring – she cared really deeply ... She championed bravery and humility."

Adams has carried that with her as a coach. Her players need little reminders of how important they are, she said, or examples of how to empower each other, too.

Returning home to lead her alma mater is an honor that Adams said she doesn't take lightly. She's happy to return home and support women's basketball again, and share what it means with her players.

"I think everybody has to understand what they've walked into," Adams said. "That's the first thing you want these kids to respect, was the people that came before you, and what this is about when you put on a Bradley Central jersey ... What came before us? What did that look like? That is so much in the DNA here, because everybody at BCHS has been here before and done it for a very long time."