On Friday, Lady Vols basketball added its ninth transfer portal commitment of the cycle. Tennessee landed Penn State guard Shaelyn Steele, who just completed her second collegiate season and will have two years remaining to use on Rocky Top.
What exactly are the Lady Vols getting from Steele, though? While she never fully found her footing with the Nittany Lions, she showed off a skillset that should fit well in Kim Caldwell’s system. Defensively, she has a knack for coming up with steals and starting fast breaks. In transition, she looks to get to the rim and can finish through contact.
Offensively, while it didn’t drop at a high rate last season, Steele has a fundamentally sound jumpshot that could start to drop with more efficiency with more work. She also seems comfortable with the ball in her hands, letting her push the tempo and find open teammates.
This past season, as a sophomore, she appeared in 27 games and started in eight. During this time, she averaged 1.8 points per game on 25.8% shooting from the field and 9.5% shooting from three. The 5-foot-6 guard also contributed 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game during the season. She played an average of 12.0 minutes per appearance.
As a true freshman, Steele played in 19 games, all off the bench. In an average of 5.8 minutes per outing, she posted 1.2 points per game on 33.3% shooting from the field and 42.9% on threes. She also contributed 0.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.5 steals per game.
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Here are highlights from Steele’s time at Penn State:
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Shaelyn Steele’s second career 3-pointer 🔥pic.twitter.com/dV3wAiP8Mn
— Noah Aberegg (@aberegg_noah) February 16, 2025
