Chamique Holdsclawcracked a sly grin when theformer Lady Vols star brought up her suggestion for the nickname of the UPSHOT Nashvilleprofessional women's basketball team.
"I thought it should be the Nashville Volunteers," Holdsclaw said on Sept. 15, seated on a panel inside Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymwhere the franchise will begin play in 2027.
The recent Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee got the first letter correct. A few minutes later, the logo was unveiled along with the announcement that the team name is the Nashville Vibe.
Holdsclaw wasn't simply offering levity when she said the name should be the Nashville Volunteers. There was a hint of seriousness. The six-time WNBA All-Star has a vision for how the new professional team can serve
women's basketball players and fans from across the state when it joins five other teams in the UPSHOT League, including the Jacksonville Waves, Savannah Steel, Charlotte Crown, Greensboro Groove and Baltimore Starlings.
"To have a team in Nashville, I was a New York City kid, and I decided to take a chance and go to Knoxville (to play), but I used to come up to Vandy every chance I got because this city was poppin'," Holdsclaw said.
"So I'm excited that now women's basketball is going to be here because there are so many young girls that dream big. Sports is so big in Tennessee; everybody wants to have their shot at being the next great talent. So this team is going to give those young ladies the vision."
The league is designed to provide players with a path to the WNBA.
Why blue and yellow were chosen for UPSHOT Nashville Vibe colors
The team colors will be blue and yellow. The fact that it's the same colors as another professional sports franchise in Nashville did not happen by accident.
While the blue and yellow pay tribute to the flag of Nashville and Davidson County, it is also the same colors as the Nashville Predators.
"This reminds me of when the Predators came to town," said former Vanderbilt women's basketball player and longtime Metro Nashville Sports Authority board chair and member Cathy Bender, who is an owner of the team.
"The Predators showed up, and nobody in Nashville knew anything about hockey," said Bender. "We didn't know the difference between icing and offside. But look at us now. If you walk down Broadway on game day, the arena is sold out, and everybody is walking around shaking their blue and yellow towels. That is what Nashville represents, and that's how I hope we will feel when we get this new team."
High-profile women's basketball figures invested in Nashville Vibe
Bender, who was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, isn't the only recognizable figure who has invested financially in the Vibe. Teresa Phillips, another former Vanderbilt basketball player and longtime Tennessee State women's basketball coach and athletic director, is also a team owner.
Phillips remembers another women's pro basketball team, the Nashville Noise, that started play in 1998. It featured high-profile players including former Lady Vols point guard Michelle Marciniak, center Venus Lacy, and former Georgia star Saudia Roundtree, the 1996 National Player of the Year. That franchise did not last a full season in the American Basketball League.
Phillips is confident the timing is better for the Nashville Vibe.
"As I've gotten older, I'm a believer that things come in their right time most of the time," Phillips said. "When you're ready in all aspects. Maybe it's taken this much time because, if you saw the presentation tonight, you saw they're pretty together with what they're doing. They're prepared to really take Nashville by storm."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Nashville Vibe picked name for Upshot League women's basketball, team colors
