Lady Vols basketball has landed another big-time addition to its transfer portal class. On Wednesday, Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle announced she has committed to join Tennessee for Kim Caldwell’s third season leading the program.
What exactly are the Lady Vols getting in Smikle, though? The answer is instant offensive firepower. While she had to miss most of last year due to knee surgery, she was an electric scorer during the 2024-25 season. In 33 appearances and starts, she averaged 17.9 points per game on 44.8% shooting from the field and 34.7% on threes.
This went along with 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals. She was named to the All-Big Ten First Team by the media and Second Team by coaches as a result.
It came both at the rim and from range for Smikle during the season. For the most part, it was catch-and-shoot attempts from three with a pretty slow release, but that’ll play in Caldwell’s system. She should get plenty of similar looks.
This shooting ability gave her an advantage in attacking closeouts and getting downhill. She also showed a knack for finishing in transition, which obviously works well in Caldwell’s system, too.
She looked on track to build on her success in the 2025-26 campaign, but shut things down after just seven games and five starts. She averaged 13.1 points per game on 44.4% shooting from the field and 35% on threes. She also contributed 3.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.7 steals per outing.
Smikle is the eighth commit to join the Lady Vols through the transfer portal. She joins Liberty’s Avery Mills, Northern Arizona’s Naomi White, Stanford’s Harper Peterson, Georgia’s Zhen Craft and Rylie Theuerkauf, Auburn’s Harissoum Coulibaly and Texas A&M’s Fatmata Janneh.
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Here’s a look at highlights from Smikle’s impressive 2024-25 season at Maryland:
