With Lady Vols basketball losing each potential returner from last season’s roster, it needed to fill an entirely new 15-player team. While the transfer portal played a big role, featuring 13 commitments through this route, Tennessee also signed a pair of class of 2026 recruits.
Four-star guard Gabby Minus stayed true to her signing, and overseas prospect Irene Oboavwoduo joined her this offseason after a string of official visits. During Oboavwoduo’s recent season in Super League Basketball in Britain, she earned a prestigious honor. This week, she was named the Young Player of the Year.
Along with her time on Manchester Basketball in the SLB under head coach Oli Parr, she was also named to the Great Britain Senior Women’s National Team for the EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers this past November. She captained the U16 National Team at the 2024 U16 EuroBasket in Turkey, earning a bronze medal, as well.
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“Irene Oboavwoduo brings professional basketball experience and is considered a rising star of basketball at the national level in Great Britain,” Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said. “We are excited for her to get here. Her play-making ability and size on the perimeter will serve her well in the SEC.”
It took a stroke of luck for the Lady Vols to identify and ultimately land Oboavwoduo, as well. Caldwell admitted that Oboavwoduo was a prospect that was sent to Tennessee, and the staff watched her film. They then made the move to get her to campus and ultimately earned her signing.
“She was sent to us,” Caldwell said. “We got to watch her film. She came to campus. She was already over here doing some visits, and so we got her on campus. Great family, great kid, very confident in herself. I think she’s gonna be able to help us.”
Oboavwoduo was previously committed to Boston College before re-opening her recruitment. She also took visits to Purdue and Cincinnati before picking Tennessee.
