Sara Puckett surprised coach Kim Caldwell with her answer in the postgame press conference after Tennessee women’s basketball beat Arkansas on Sunday.
The senior forward was trying to explain the tradition Caldwell brought with her to Lady Vols basketball from when she was a player at Glenville State. Puckett was listing the items given out for leading the team in different statistical categories and mistakenly called the Hamburglar figurine a “hand-grabber,” which drew a bewildered look from Caldwell.
“First and foremost, it’s the Hamburglar from McDonald’s, but they’re so young, they don’t know what the Hamburglar is,” Caldwell said Tuesday. “And I was going to interrupt her and go off and say, ‘You are too young to not know what the McDonald’s toys are.’ “
The Hamburglar is given out to the player who leads the team in steals. Guard Talaysia Cooper brought the Hamburglar to the press conference after Tennessee’s exhibition win over Carson-Newman when she had eight steals.
The other items include a WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt, which Puckett wore to the press conference, for leading the team in rebounding. There’s also a tiara for the assist leader and a hard hat for the top player.
Puckett led the team with nine rebounds, and she was rewarded with the belt. She added 11 points, a block and a steal in No. 15 Tennessee’s 93-63 win at Arkansas.
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Caldwell said she and her teammates always enjoyed the awards at Glenville State, and she has carried on the tradition as coach at her alma mater, Marshall and now Tennessee.
“We always kind of fought over the belt,” Caldwell said. “And I know a couple other schools that do that as well. So we have a couple little trinkets and toys that we’ll give out, just for selfless things, for, really, effort-based plays. And (Puckett) was proud of it and was wearing it around the arena and took it in, and so that was cute.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball: Kim Caldwell explains Hamburglar reward
