Filling Rennia Davis’ shoes

BRANDON SHOWN Contributor

It’s almost time for Lady Vols’ basketball to tip off again on Rocky Top. Over the offseason, Tennessee lost star player Rennia Davis to the WNBA draft, when she was selected ninth overall by the Minnesota Lynx. Former Lady Vols Destiny Salary, Kasiyahna Kushkituah and Jaiden McCoy also moved on from Tennessee for various reasons.

With nine players returning, there are not too many gaps on the roster to fill. The addition of four new freshmen as well as a graduate transfer can only help this Lady Vols team as they progress throughout their season.

Each year there is always a player that breaks out and makes a name for themselves. Whether it’s someone finally tapping into their potential or stepping up and succeeding in a new role, the players that make the jump to the next level are critical for long postseason runs.

Rae Burrell

Rae Burrell figures to be one of the biggest leaders for the Lady Vols this season. She formed a potent duo with Davis last season, but on her own, Burrell looks to have a role just as prominent.

“There’s a little bit of pressure, but I feel like I just need to play my game,” Burrell said. “I’m not looking to force anything, just letting it come to me. I feel like I need to really focus on being a good leader for this team, too, whether that’s scoring or just vocally showing how to be a good leader. There is pressure, but I trust in myself and my teammates to keep me level-headed to be a good leader.”

Burrell has been named to numerous preseason award watchlists including the Preseason All-SEC Team, the Cheryl Miller Award and the USA Today Preseason All-American.

Burrell is coming off a 2020-21 season in which she started every game for a team high 804 minutes. She averaged 16.8 points per game. She made 45% of field goal attempts and was an astounding 40.2% from three-point range. The one weakness in her game was a tendency to turn over the ball, as she committed 69 turnovers on the season.

For someone as talented as Burrell, she is looking to improve with her voice.

“For me personally, I think just being a vocal leader,” Burrell said. “Before, I think it was just more by showing. I think I really want to talk to the younger ones and show them that I can lead the team.”

Jordan Horston

Jordan Horston is looking to fill a leadership role this season alongside Burrell, as she enters her third year within the program.

“Having great leaders is always a piece that’s necessary for winning teams,” Horston said.

“Having vocal leaders on and off the court helping these young people come in and guide them and show them the ropes is always something a great team needs, and I feel like we have that so I’m very excited about what we can do this year and how everybody has been working hard and continuing to push each other.”

“Honestly, even though we have vocal leaders, the freshmen are leaders as well. Freshman, sophomore, everybody’s a leader, everybody’s feeling comfortable here, and that’s what I love about this team.”

Last season, Horston averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, starting 13 games as a sophomore in the 2020-21 season. She scored double figures 14 times a year ago, after only doing so five times as a freshman, and totaled 10 or more points in four of her last five games.

Horston’s 4.2 assists per game mark was tied for third in the SEC, and she was the only nonupperclassman player within the top-13. Horston was named to the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Award List.

UT Guard Jordan Horston during media day on Oct. 28, 2021 at Pratt Pavilion, Knoxville, TN. Jamar

Coach / The Daily Beacon

Tamari Key

Junior center Tamari Key is expected to have a big season for the Lady Volunteers picking up where she left off. Key was named to the Lisa Leslie Preseason Award watchlist, alongside Burrell, in the Preseason All-SEC Team.

“I was honored to be on one of the lists,” Key said. “I think I just want to be able to just keep working hard this season. I just want to keep getting better every day.”

Last season, Key put up 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, while shooting 62.8% from the field. She ranked 11th in the NCAA and second in the SEC with 72 blocks and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team.

Key’s 72 blocked shots were the eighth best single season total, and her 158 career blocks through just two seasons are also eighth in program history. Key had Tennessee’s fourth ever triple-double on Jan. 31, 2021, with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks against Florida.

Key serves as a member of the SEC StudentAthlete Leadership Council & SAAC Representative, as well as the women’s basketball representative for UT’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Heated rivalries highlight the Vols’ SEC schedule

The Tennessee basketball team tips off its regular-season on Nov. 9, hosting UT Martin at Thompson-Boling Arena. It’s the first game in a gauntlet of a non-conference slate, with the hope being that when the Vols get to SEC play, they have already seen their toughest opponents of the year.

That won’t make every SEC game a guaranteed win for the Vols. Five SEC teams, including Tennessee, are currently ranked in the preseason AP Top-25.

Here’s the five biggest games from Tennessee’s SEC schedule and a few honorable mentions.

Tennessee at Alabama — Dec. 29

Tennessee will open its SEC slate in Tuscaloosa against the defending SEC Champions Alabama. The matchup has traditionally been dominated by Alabama over the years, and the last few meetings are no exception. Tennessee has lost six of its last 10 games against the Crimson Tide.

Alabama lost many of its key contributors from its 2020 run to the NBA Draft and graduation, but it still has enough talent to be ranked No. 14 in the nation. The Crimson Tide are led by preseason All-SEC players Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly. They were Alabama’s leading scorers from a year ago and figure to be just as important to third-year head coach Nate Oats.

Tennessee at Kentucky — Jan. 15

It’s not the best or even the most historic rivalry in college basketball, but you would be hard pressed to find two fanbases who despise each other more than during a TennesseeKentucky basketball game.

Kentucky has historically dominated the Vols in basketball, and it’s not even close. The Wildcats lead the Vols 91-20 all time at home, but Rick Barnes has been one of the best ever visiting coaches in Lexington. He is the only active coach to have three wins as the visiting team in Rupp Arena, and his Vols have taken the last two contests there.

Florida — Jan. 26

The fans in TBA will be eager to welcome Florida after John Fulkerson suffered a face fracture at the elbow of Omar Payne in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal a year ago. Payne has since transferred out, but some wounds never heal in a rivalry this intense.

Kentucky — Feb. 15

Tennessee’s second matchup with Kentucky makes the list for all the same reasons as its first one did. The rivalry is just too good, especially as Kentucky looks to bounce back from an underwhelming season.

Barnes’ Vols are 4-3 against Kentucky in Knoxville in his six seasons at Tennessee, though the Wildcats have taken the last two meetings.

Auburn — Feb. 26

There’s nothing that stokes a rivalry more than a coach that had success at one school, went to a rival and started winning there too.

That’s exactly what Bruce Pearl did. He owned a 145-61 record in six seasons at Tennessee, but was fired in 2011 amid a recruiting scandal. Pearl took the head job at Auburn in 2014, and after a slow first three years, he turned Auburn into an SEC powerhouse, including a 2017-18 SEC regular season championship split with the Vols.

Honorable mentions

Ole Miss — Jan. 5

Ole Miss is traditionally not a basketball school. The Rebels are a mid-tier SEC team at best, and despite them knocking off the Vols in Oxford last season, Tennessee has won five of the last six games. This matchup makes the honorable mention list because after the chaos of that October football game, these two teams and fanbases need to meet again.

LSU — Jan. 8

For whatever reason, LSU has been one of the few school Barnes has not been able to figure out. Since his first season as the Vols’ head coach in 2015-16, the Vols have gone just 2-5 against LSU, including a loss in the 2016 SEC quarterfinal. LSU head coach Will Wade has the Tigers trending in the right direction, so it’s worth watching if Barnes has figured out the winning formula.Heated rivalries highlight the Vols’ SEC schedule

Former player Jordan Bowden (23) attempting a layup against Auburn at Thompson Boling Arena on Saturday, March 7, 2020. Sydney Goodsell / The

Daily Beacon

Former star player, No. 5 Admiral Schofield, attempts a layup against UK at Thompson-Boiling on Saturday March 2, 2019

File / The Daily Beacon

ETHAN STONE Assistant Sports Editor

The nature of college sports is a cruel one for those who value consistency. A great player is only guaranteed four to six years on a team, and the really explosive players are often gone after just one season.

It’s not easy to create a dynasty in college sports, which makes Nick Saban at Alabama or Mike Kryzewski at Duke all the more impressive. A lot of that success comes from depth, especially in college basketball.

Tennessee was short on a true point guard to facilitate the off ense last season and struggled when star forward John Fulkerson went down with an injury late in the season against Florida.

Finding a rotation that adequately disperses minutes to playmakers is tough. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is confi dent that depth will be a positive for the Vols this season, rather than a negative.

“It has been a really healthy competitive situation, and we are going to have to have that throughout the year,” Barnes said. “If we do what we like to do, we expect to go very deep into our bench. We can play at a pace that we have been working at and continue that pace.”

A lot of that depth comes from the eight newcomers Tennessee added in the off season, replacing three NBA draftees in Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer and Yves Pons.

Even with the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation on campus, it’s not easy to replace that much fi repower — something Barnes echoed after the Vols’ 103-62 exhibition victory over Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday.

“We missed Yves Pons today,” Barnes said. “We missed his defensive fi x-it plays. We did miss that.”

Five-star freshmen duo Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfi eld showed they are willing to help alleviate some of those losses Saturday. The two combined for 36 points — Chandler led the team in assists with 6 and Huntley-Hatfi eld led the team in rebounds with 12, completing his fi rst double-double as a Vol in game zero.

UT Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfi eld waiting to inbound the ball during the Tennessee vs LenoirRhyne men’s exhibition game on Oct. 30, 2021 at Thompson-Boiling Arena, Knoxville, TN. Jamar

Coach / The Daily Beacon

UT Guard Kennedy Chandler during the Tennessee vs Lenoir-Rhyne men’s exhibition game on Oct. 30, 2021 at Thompson-Boiling Arena, Knoxville, TN.

Jamar Coach / The Daily Beacon

Barnes knows his team has a long way to go, especially removed from a team that ranked in the bottom half of fi eld goal percentage last season. The tenured head coach stressed taking open shots when the opportunity arose, which in turn would translate to better looks as the season progresses and defenses adjust.

“We want them to take open shots, we want them to,” Barnes said. “But we also feel that by doing that, it’s going to give us a chance. We have some guys that we think have the speed to drive the ball and get into those cracks. We think we are going to continue to get better with our inside presence.”

Often, those open shots are from deep, and if Tennessee’s exhibition is any indication, the Vols will be taking a diff erent approach to their off ensive philosophy this season.

The Vols took 46 shots from downtown against Lenoir-Rhyne, the second most in program history in a single game behind only a 2007 matchup against North Carolina A&T where the Vols shot 50 threes.

The Vols are hitting those shots at a high rate too, at least in practice and exhibition play.

“We played Davidson (intrasquad scrimmage) and then we played ourselves, and in all four of those games we shot over 40 threes,” Barnes said. “We shot it at a clip of 40(%) which is about where we’ve been. We haven’t been under 40.”

We have some guys that we think have the speed to drive the ball and get into those cracks.

ANDREW PETERS Staff Writer

A close look at any great college basketball team will show you that veteran leadership is a vital part of the team’s success.

The Lady Vols have that veteran core this season and will look to it for guidance throughout the course of this season.

“I think when you look at consistent teams, I think that you see veterans,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “And they don’t have to be the biggest super star veterans, but veterans make a diff erence. They’ve been there done that, they understand the system, they can make changes on the fl y and they play with a little bit more poise at times.”

Tennessee’s roster has one senior, three graduates and four juniors. The team doesn’t lack veteran players. How those players will come into their roles as leaders will determine the success of the team this season.

One of the biggest questions of the off season for the Lady Vols has been who will fi ll the role that Rennia Davis left behind. Davis was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx No. 9 overall and leaves behind a void at the guard position.

Harper is looking to senior Rae Burrell and junior Jordan Horston to step up big in the guard slots this season.

“Our team has to look a little diff erent to be successful because we don’t have Rennia to throw it to and then sit back and watch,” Harper said. “Right now, we just need Rae to be Rae, and Jordan’s game has matured a lot over the course of her career here.”

Burrell recognizes her role as a leader and is ready to step into that role both on and off the court.

“I feel like I need to really focus on being a good leader for this team, too, whether that’s scoring or just vocally showing how to be a good leader,” Burrell said. “There is pressure, but I trust in myself and my teammates to keep me level-headed to be a good leader.”

Burrell is coming off a season where she averaged 16.8 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Another player that Tennessee is looking to for leadership is Jordan Walker. She is going into her second season at Tennessee after transferring from Western Michigan. Though she hasn’t been with the team as long as others, she still sees an opportunity to lead younger Lady Vols.

“I know that when I talk, they listen and when they talk, I listen,” Walker said. “I feel like we’ve built that trust with each other to be able to say certain things to each other. We know it’s coming out of love and coming out of wanting each other to be better and be the best player that we can be.”

Tennessee has a number of other players that it can look to night in and night out. Tamari Key off ers height and experience in the paint and is coming off a season where she averaged nearly 3 blocks per game.

“The sky is the limit for her projection,” Harper said. “For her, a lot of her growth this year and summer was the mental side. The understanding and wanting the basketball. Understanding how to work to get the basketball. Walking on the court with a presence and confi dence. That’s where we will see big leaps from her this year.”

The Lady Vols have a long season ahead of them and the team will look to its veterans to win games while also off ering guidance for younger players.

“I think you rely on your experience in a lot of ways. You can’t skip that step,” Harper said. “They are going to be able to share those experiences with (freshman) but also walk on the court confi dent in a lot of situations.”

UT women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper answers the press during media day on Oct. 28, 2021 in the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio, Knoxville, TN. Jamar Coach / The Daily Beacon

RILEY THOMAS Contributor

In previous seasons, the Lady Vols have never shied away from playing the top programs in college basketball. This year is nothing different.

On top of the already daunting SEC schedule, the Lady Vols will be playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country for the 2021-2022 season.

Tennessee is slated to take on five teams ranked in the preseason top-25 in the nonconference slate, including two of the top-3 teams in the country, Stanford and Connecticut.

“Regardless of where I have coached, my philosophy has always been to challenge our team in the non-conference schedule,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “We understand what the SEC is going to be. We understand it’s going to be a huge challenge. You’re talking about the best conference in the country.”

“Our non-conference schedule needs to help push us to be the best team that we can be but also prepare us for our SEC schedule as well. You come to Tennessee to play the best. You come here to compete at an elite level. When we put our schedule together, that is what we are planning on doing.”

The Lady Vols have tough assignments right out of the gate. After the home opener against Southern Illinois, they hit the road and head to Orlando for the first major road test of the season versus the University of Central Florida on Nov. 12.

Tennessee returns home the following week, but it doesn’t get any easier as the first slate of ranked opponents head to ThompsonBowling Arena. They open the week on Nov. 15 against another team from the state of Florida in No. 21 South Florida, and conclude the week on Nov. 21 versus No. 25 Texas.

After the Lady Vols wrap up that slate of home games, they will head to Las Vegas for the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. One Lady Vol in particular is pumped to return home and play in front of family and friends.

“I’m so excited, because I’m all the way in Tennessee and it’s not easy for them to come down here,” Las Vegas native, Rae Burrell said. “Especially for long distance friends and family, I am very excited for them to just see me play in person.”

Over the course of the Shootout, Tennessee will battle against Kansas on Nov. 26, before ending the tournament against Oklahoma State on Nov. 27.

The Lady Vols return home on Dec. 1 to take on in-state opponent Tennessee Tech before hitting the road again for another road test in Blacksburg against No. 24 Virginia Tech.

On Dec. 12, Tennessee is back home and taking on a lesser opponent in Georgia State, but the next program they face off is an entirely different story.

On Dec. 18, the reigning National Champions and the third-ranked team in the country, the Stanford Cardinal, comes to Knoxville in the biggest game of the season thus far. Historically, Tennessee has owned the Cardinal, as it has 25 wins and only 12 losses to Stanford. However, the last time the programs faced off in 2019, Stanford walloped Tennessee by 27 points, 78-51.

Following the massive game against Stanford, Tennessee has some tune-up games before getting conference play underway, in ETSU on Dec. 20 and Chattanooga on Dec. 27.

The final non-conference game slated for the Big Orange comes in the middle of the SEC season when the Lady Vols head to Hartford, Connecticut, to duel against No. 2 ranked UConn.

The two schools faced off every single season from 1995-2007 before taking a 13 year hiatus until they resumed the rivalry in 2020. UConn leads the series 15-9 and has won the last two, including a come-from-behind victory lead by the Naismith Player of the Year, Paige Bueckers, in Knoxville, 67-61.

These games will not be easy by any means for the Lady Vols, but each player and coach on the staff is looking forward to going against this quality of competition when the season starts on Nov. 10.

“I’m excited. I’m excited just to go against the competition and compete,” guard Jordan Walker said. “I know that our team is going to go out and compete every single night. Just to be able to play against teams like that is amazing.”

Former player Rennia Davis, No. 0, and Rae Burrell, No. 12, make an attempt at rebounding a shot at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday, February 16th, 2020. Kailee Harris / The Daily Beacon