We’re 100 days away from the first officially scheduled 2026-27 Lady Vols basketball game. On November 5, Tennessee will head to Coppin State for what could be the season opener. Teams are able to schedule as early as November 1, though, so the start of the season may be even earlier.
With the season quickly approaching and the offseason in full swing, I took a look at three questions that will determine how Kim Caldwell’s third season will play out.
Can the Lady Vols Compete on the Glass, Defensively in the Post?
The number one question for the Lady Vols this upcoming season is their size. When retooling the entire roster, the weak point was finding proven bigs who can rebound and defend posts at a high level.
The projected leading rebounder will be Texas A&M transfer Fatmata Janneh. She did it well in the SEC with the Aggies a year ago, standing at 6-foot-2. However, with that size, she’ll be giving up a good bit of height to top post players if she’s asked to step up defensively.
The other forwards projected to be asked to rebound will be Aaliyah Moore from Texas, Zhen Craft from Georgia, Harper Peterson from Stanford and Riley Makalusky from West Virginia. The tallest of the group is Peterson at 6-foot-3, which means UT will be giving up height to the majority of SEC opponents.
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Who Will Step Up as the Top Scoring Options?
The Lady Vols have a number of scoring options who appear to be knockdown shooters. The projected leading scorer for the team is Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle, who was terrific two years ago with the Terrapins before going down with an injury last year.
Another big-time scorer as a freshman a year ago was Naomi White. However, White did it at Northern Arizona and is now looking to have it translate at the top level of the sport. Kennedy Fauntleroy and Jada Eads are in a similar boat, not producing the same numbers as White, but averaging in double figures at ECU and Seton Hall, respectively.
There are some scorers from the SEC who could step into a star role, as well. This includes Georgia’s Rylie Theuerkauf, Georgia’s Zhen Craft, Auburn’s Harissoum Coulibaly, Texas A&M’s Fatmata Janneh and Texas’ Aaliyah Moore.
How Will Injuries Impact the Team?
Tennessee enters this season with a good number of players coming off injuries. Unfortunately for the Lady Vols, it suffered a big blow during summer practices, as well, with Liberty transfer Avery Mills going down with an ACL and meniscus injury that she just underwent surgery for.
As the season approaches, all eyes will be on Maryland transfer Kaylene Smikle’s recovery. After just seven games last year, she underwent knee surgery to repair a nagging injury. UT will need her to be healthy to reach its goals.
Aaliyah Moore is the other player who will be very interesting to monitor. When healthy, she was fantastic at Texas. However, she didn’t play at all last year and just 19 games the season prior.
Seton Hall’s Jada Eads is also coming off a season-ending knee injury last year. Stanford’s Harper Peterson’s first college season two years ago ended early due to a season-ending injury, as well, but she recovered to play a small role off the bench for the Cardinal last year.
