Karly Weathers: From Tennessee to Tuscaloosa

The lone freshman of Alabama women's basketball comes from an athletic family, but she is ready to compete on the next level.

If you look on a map, you'll find a town in southern Tennessee, a small town of about 1,800 people that is only 10 minutes away from the Alabama-Tennessee state line. The name of that town is Loretto, which is the hometown of the only freshman on the University of Alabama women's basketball team: Karly Weathers.

"It was awesome growing up in Loretto," Weathers said. "A lot of people, when I tell them I'm from Tennessee, they're like "Oh, was it hard transitioning from a Tennessee fan to an Alabama fan?"

The transition was a lot easier than most would think; Weathers has been an always been a fan of the Crimson Tide, in part because of the proximity to Alabama. She even rooted for Alabama over her home-state Tennessee Volunteers when the Tide traveled to Knoxville earlier in the season. 

The ties to Tennessee have started well before Karly, however. For the faithful of the Volunteer State, the name "Weathers" may be familiar, similar to how the name rings bells in the minds of older baseball fans. Karly is the daughter of former MLB pitcher John David Weather (or David Weathers as he's more commonly known), a native of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, 15 minutes up the road from Loretto. David pitched in the majors for 19 years with nine different team, mainly for the Reds, Brewers, and the Florida Marlins (when's the last time anyone's heard that name?), winning the 1996 World Series with the New York Yankees.

For newer baseball fans, the Weathers name has reached a new generation; David's son Ryan, Karly's older brother, is a pitcher for the San Diego Padres. 

"It was competitive for as long as I can remember," Weathers said about growing up in a sports heavy household. "If we played a wiffle ball game in the backyard, or just a pickup game of basketball, it was about who had bragging rights at the dinner table."

Between Karly and Ryan, big brother would always win against his little sister until Karly finally beat him 1-on-1 on a Christmas Eve, and hasn't played him since so that victory will continue to stand. A friendly rivalry, yes, but Karly does acknowledge and appreciate having multiple people in her household that have all played collegiate sports. That includes her mother, Kelli, who was an All-American basketball player at Belmont.

"That's where I think I get most of my competitiveness from because she came from basketball," Weathers said. "But it's definitely giving me an advantage coming here just knowing I have a brother, a mom and a dad who've all played at the next level. Mentally, I have been able to get tips and tricks on how to attack college basketball."

Weathers' love for basketball came from watching her older brother, whose second sport was basketball in addition to baseball. Another factor that helped her love for the sport was the support of the community: Loretto is big on girls basketball.

"The thing I remember most about growing up is how they emphasized girls basketball so heavily," she said. ""Every time we would go and play, whether it was at home or on the road, we would have a packed crowd for our girls games. That was something very special, because a lot of places don't emphasize girls basketball or girls sports.

"I always dreamed of being a Lady Mustang at the high school."

It wasn't long before that dream became reality as Weathers would star for the Loretto High School Lady Mustangs, a school she dreamed of playing for. Weathers talked about how when she took the floor for the first time in a Loretto uniform, it "was not a seat to be had. It was no empty seats in the building."

The arena stayed packed while Weathers was at Loretta, and it was often because fans came to watch her play. During her four-year career, she earned consecutive Miss Tennessee Basketball awards, a Class 2A First Team selection, and the 2022 Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year award. She also finished her high school career with over 2,000 points.

"I couldn't ask for a better four years of basketball," Weathers said. 

Weathers had a bevy of collegiate offers, including Florida State, Georgia Tech and others, but it ultimately came down to three schools: Belmont, her mother's alma mater, Indiana, who's started this season ranked No. 11 in the AP poll, and Alabama.

It's no surprise that Weathers talked to Kristy Curry during her recruiting process, but her relationship with the Crimson Tide head coach started well before she was "Coach Curry." 

It started during her AAU days, where Weathers was a teammate to Kendall Curry, Kristy's daughter.

"I played with her my fifth, sixth, and seventh grade year," Weathers said. "So I knew the Currys before I knew they were the head coach and assistant coach at Alabama. I got to know them on a more personal level."

 It was around eighth grade, when Karly started seeing college basketball become a real possibility, that her conversations with coach Curry became about her taking her talents to Tuscaloosa. It was the fall of her freshman year of high school when Weathers received an official offer.

Curry knew that Weathers would likely attract more offers as she continued playing, so she shared some words of wisdom soon after the offer was put on the table.

"She said 'You will probably pick up more Power 5 offers, but I just want you to know that we were the first. No matter what happens, whether you get injured, not matter what, the scholarship is here to stay'," Weathers recalled.

Curry held true to her word, even when COVID-19 ravaged the recruiting landscape and a lot of scholarships were lost. But it was the faith that coach Curry had in what Weathers could be than ultimately pulled the Loretto, Tennessee native to join the Crimson Tide.

Now, as the lone freshman who's a member of a Power 5 program, Weathers now plays with players who have at least two years of collegiate experience. She isn't worried though: the spirit of competition is in her nature.

"Every single day, I know that I'm gonna be playing against girls who have played at least two years of college basketball and have that experience. I don't," Weathers said. "With me also being a competitor, I love to learn. So every day, I get to go and play with veterans like Brittany Davis and Hannah Barber. This is their fifth year, so it's special for me that I can take the knowledge they give me and put it in my play."

Weathers did say it can overwhelming at times being the only freshman, but to her it's like having older sisters, especially Sarah Ashlee Barker, whom Weathers said is a mentor to her.

"She's just kinda motivated me to stay tough mentally because she is about as mentally tough as anybody," Weathers said. "Each day she checks on me. She's definitely one of those people that just pushes me to be a better person and a better player."

Weathers shared how Barker developed that mental toughness, explaining how she endured a rough freshman year at Georgia because of the pandemic before transferring after her sophomore year to Alabama. On the court however, the two have great chemistry as each player pushes the other in practice.

"Each time she's at an individual workout, she's letting me know so I can come do it with her," she said. "We just have that chemistry with each other to be the best version of ourselves."

The season just got underway, and Weathers had a strong debut: 15 points on five shots, including 3-for-4 from the three-point line while making all four free throws to go with four steals. As more fans and followers learn who she is, she wants to display her impact on both sides of the ball.

"I try to be and all-around player instead of one that just specializes in offense or specializes in defense," Weathers said. "I try to do every little thing, so I try to be the one that gets the rebounds, gets the assists, gets deflections. I try to play as hard as I can possibly play every possession."

As far as season expectations, Weathers believes the combination of depth and team chemistry could lead to a successful season for Alabama. 

The team is 1-0 with a lot of potential and talent on its roster, but make sure to keep an eye on the Tennessee native with a competitive spirit.