Karen Weekly Dismisses Taylor Pannell's Claims as 'Outright Lie'

OKLAHOMA CITY – During the Women's College World Series on May 30, former Tennessee softball player Taylor Pannell played a crucial role in a dramatic match against Texas Tech, scoring the game-tying run that pushed the contest into extra innings. Ultimately, Tennessee secured a 2-1 win with a walk-off home run in the ninth. Following the game, Pannell shared her experience of a handshake with Tennessee coach Karen Weekly, alleging that Weekly told her she made a mistake by transferring to the Red Raiders.

"We were walking through the line just saying 'good game,' and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying 'good game,' which is kind of crazy," Pannell remarked during the postgame press conference. "Like celebrate with your team. I just think it's funny she's still thinking about it. It's old news. Whatever."

In the aftermath of the game, Weekly was asked about her exchange with Pannell and stated, "Good game, like I say to every player. Good game." When informed of Pannell's claim regarding her comments, Weekly firmly refuted it, labeling the assertion an "outright lie" in a conversation with Knox News.

"If you rewatch the tape of the handshake line, you’re going to see me go just as fast by her as anybody else," Weekly explained. "I didn’t even know where she was in the handshake line … that’s an outright lie. I said good game like I said to every other player."

Pannell joined Texas Tech last offseason after an impressive stint at Tennessee, where she excelled as a redshirt sophomore. She earned a spot on the NFCA All-America second team after leading the Lady Vols in nearly every offensive category, boasting a .398 batting average and impressive stats that included 56 runs and 65 RBIs.

The following day, Weekly addressed the issue of tampering in a social media post, emphasizing her stance on the integrity of the game. "I think we can all agree on 2 things: 1) women making money in sports is awesome and long overdue; 2) contacting players (directly or indirectly) before their season ends and signing them to NIL deals before they enter the portal is wrong. Money isn’t the issue - tampering is!" she wrote.