Remembering a Champion: HoopsHD interviews Danene Charles about her Hall of Fame sister Daedra

The Tennessee women’s basketball program is going through some changes: after firing Coach Holly Warlick last week (who won 8 championships as an assistant to Pat Summitt), the school is rumored to be pursuing Kellie Harper (who won 3 championships as a player for Summitt) as her replacement. Today marks the 30th anniversary of 1 of the Lady Vols’ many former titles: a 76-60 win over Auburn in the 1989 NCAA title game. Not only did Daedra Charles win a title that night, she won another title 2 years later in a 70-67 OT win over Virginia. Daedra passed away in 2018 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel had the privilege of chatting with her sister Danene earlier this year about Daedra’s connection with Coach Summitt and her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Her nickname was “Night Train”: who gave it to her and how did she like it? She was okay with that. I believe a coach gave her that nickname: perhaps Pat Summitt.

She was a player/assistant for Coach Summitt at Tennessee: how did she like playing/working for 1 of the greatest coaches in the history of sports? She loved it! Pat was more than a coach: she had a way of instilling family with all of the Lady Vols. They respected 1 another and our entire family was very fond of Pat. She worked for Pat because she had such a great experience playing for Pat even though she was tough. Daedra said the switch in roles was very rewarding and she was proud to do so.

1 of the moves she used as a low-post player at Tennessee was to step/fake 1 way before spinning around the other way (which former Auburn head coach Nell Fortner called the “Daedra Charles move” and taught it to her own players): how did she come up with it, and what made it so unstoppable? I just know that she was so tenacious and really embraced basketball: she wanted to be the best but also had fun. She ate/slept basketball because it was very much her life and she continued to do it for as long as she could. I know that she wanted to be unstoppable and play the game at a very high level.

In the 1989 NCAA tourney title game she helped her team beat SEC rival Auburn: what did it mean to her to win a title? That felt good. She was always very humble: she often did not even know her own stats. A lot of that had to do with being at a winning school and playing for a great coach. Pat gave her an opportunity as a Prop 48 player because she believed in her, which is more than what she would expect from a coach. That title was for the team but especially for Pat, which continued the Summitt legacy.

In the 1991 NCAA tourney title game she scored 19 PTS in a 3-PT OT win over Virginia and ended up making the All-Tourney team: how was she able to play her best when it mattered the most? The 3 D’s: determination/desire/dedication. She always wanted to win and never gave up. She could not play as a freshman but did practice with the team and kept persevering.

She was a 2-time All-American and in 1991 became the 1st SEC player to win the Wade Trophy as national POY: what did it mean to her to receive such outstanding honors? She was almost in disbelief. She never set out to win awards but just wanted to do well and honor her craft. Winning any award was just a bonus…but when she later reflected on it she was almost overwhelmed.

At the 1992 Olympics she was a member of team USA: how did she feel about representing her country/winning a bronze medal? That was awesome! For a little Black girl from the west side of Detroit, nobody in our neighborhood had done anything like that. It was very humbling for her and she felt very proud to be a female Black American from Detroit representing her country overseas.

In 2007 she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of her career? That was important to her. We were all there with her and Pat. She had not set out to achieve that: she just wanted to be the best player she could be. It was extra-special since it was in Summitt Town in Tennessee. She was also inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame last fall.

In the 2009 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Summitt at her alma mater, the defending champs were upset by #12-seed Ball State (the 1st time Tennessee ever lost an opening-round game in the tourney): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of her career? She never liked to lose. She did not welcome defeat but was a realist who did her homework to review the game tapes and analyze what happened so she could regroup.

She passed away in 2018 at age 49: when people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? As someone who loved life and enjoyed the game of basketball. She was more than just a basketball player: she brought class/humility to the game. She played at the highest level and loved the game. Everything she did was about creating a sense of family/unity.

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