KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tamika Catchings knows she's no Chamique Holdsclaw and doesn't intend to try to be. She doesn't expect anyone else on Tennessee to take Holdsclaw's place, either.

	Many experts think Tamika Catchings will be the Player of the Year.

"Last year it was Chamique and the Lady Vols," Catchings said. "I don't want it to be like that. When we make it to the national championship I want it to be the Lady Vols, not Catchings and the Lady Vols or (Semeka) Randall and the Lady Vols. We don't want that individual stuff.

"We want it to be a team effort."

The Lady Vols have won six national titles and had won three in a row until Duke upset them in the East Region title game of last year's NCAA Tournament.

As the team looks to return to past glory, it will rely heavily on Catchings and Randall. Catchings was first-team All-America last year and Randall was on the second team.

"Those two numbers will be called," said Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who enters the season five wins short of 700 for her career.

Point guard Kristen "Ace" Clement will step in for the other departed senior, Kellie Jolly. Having Catchings and Randall should make the transition easier.

"Both are great players. They know how to get the ball to the basket. They're very clutch players," Clement said. "The good thing about them is they're very grounded, very team-oriented. They try to get everyone involved."

Catchings enters her junior season with 1,274 career points, just 100 points off the school-record-pace of Holdsclaw. She reached the 1,000-point plateau in 58 games, just one more than it took Holdsclaw. She was second on the team in scoring (16.6 points a game), rebounds (7.3 a game) and assists (95) last year, and led the team in steals with 88.

	“	We've tried to emphasize to this team how much they need each other. ... They didn't realize that last year until it was too late. I think they expected Chamique to step up and do things, and we stood and watched too much. ”
		— Pat Summitt

Her freshman and sophomore numbers are outstanding. In most categories she is second in school history -- to you know who.

Catchings realizes many fans expect her to be the next Holdsclaw, now a star with the WNBA Washington Mystic. It is not a designation Catchings wants.

"We have so much talent on this team we don't need somebody who's going to score all the points. We don't need somebody who's going to do everything for the team," Catchings said. "In the past, some teams may have needed that, but this team is focused on making the team ours, everybody's, not just one person's. I think that's going to help us a lot."

Some of that approach undoubtedly comes from Summitt.

"We've tried to emphasize to this team how much they need each other," she said. "I think they know they need each other, and they didn't realize that last year until it was too late. That was something we struggled with all year long. I think they expected Chamique to step up and do things, and we stood and watched too much."

Catchings, Randall and Clement are the three remaining juniors from the freshman class that burst on the scene in Tennessee's 39-0 national championship year in 1998. The fourth member of that class, Teresa Geter, has transferred to South Carolina.

"I think people are looking at Tamika because she had so much success early in her career," Summitt said. "Chamique was here. A lot of people keyed on Chamique. That certainly didn't hurt her early success."

Beyond that success, Summitt says, Catchings plays a different game.

"Tamika is lightning quick and plays at an incredible pace," Summitt said. "Chamique is more laid back and poised and plays in spurts."

Randall said the Lady Vols might be better off looking for the next Kellie Jolly.

"She did a lot of things that don't show up in the statistics," Randall said. "We've got a lot of scorers. I don't think we'll have a person who averages 20-25 points a game, but you'll see a lot of people averaging 14-15 points a game, maybe four or five people. That's what's going to be very special about our team."