The steps to rebuilding the Lady Vols’ basketball roster started this week with the addition of two guards who both can hit three-pointers and committed on the same day they visited.

Avery Mills, a 5-9 guard from Lynchburg, Virginia, visited Tuesday, said yes while at Tennessee and publicly announced her decision Wednesday. Mills played two seasons at Liberty and has two years of eligibility remaining. Mills shot 43.8 percent from the arc, 46.0 percent overall and 86.7 percent from the line during her two years at Liberty.

Lady Vol fans have already seen Mills on “The Summitt.” Tennessee hosted Liberty in Nov. 16, 2024, and Mills tallied 19 points on 7-9 shooting overall and 3-5 from the arc.

Naomi White, a 5-9 guard from Omaha, Nebraska, visited Wednesday, also said yes while at Tennessee and publicly announced her decision Thursday. White played one season at Northern Arizona and has three years of eligibility remaining.

White led the NCAA in scoring for freshmen in the country last season at 20.8 points per game, earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors and made 92 three-pointers while shooting 36.5 percent from the arc.

Coach Kim Caldwell and Naomi White (Naomi White social media)

Class of 2026 signee Gabby Minus, a 6-0 guard from Dacula, Georgia, stayed committed to Tennessee and will enroll as a freshman when summer workouts begin.

Coach Kim Caldwell also has replaced two assistant coaches with the hiring this week of Isoken Uzamere, whose name is pronounced SO-ken ooh-ZAH-mer-ay and goes by “Coach EAS.” When Georgia parted ways with Katie Abrahamson-Henderson – success wasn’t the issue; it likely was lack of sufficient support – Tennessee quickly acquired Uzamere from her staff.

Uzamere was on the staff with Abrahamson-Henderson for 14 seasons at Albany, UCF and Georgia. She played at Hofstra from 2007-11 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in communications at Hofstra and then a Master of Arts in interpersonal and intercultural communication at Albany in 2014. When an assistant sticks with a head coach at three different schools for 14 seasons, that’s an indication of excellence.

Bill Ferrara was hired March 30 after serving as an associate head coach at Florida State. He was instrumental in the Seminoles’ high-octane offensive output.

With the departure of all eight players eligible to return and top high school recruit Oliviyah Edwards, who asked to be released, Caldwell faced a full re-do. The roster is at three now and at least five more players are expected to take visits soon with the transfer portal not even through its first week.

Before year three begins, Caldwell will construct a new roster. The early returns indicate she’s looking for three-point shooters, considerable grit – and players like her who have something to prove.

SOFTBALL

Tennessee will play a Saturday-Monday format this weekend with three games at Kentucky. Game one on April 11 is 1 p.m. with a livestream on SECN+; game two on April 12 is 6 p.m. on SEC Network; and game three on April 13 is 7 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Lady Vols tallied mid-week, run rule games – 12-0 against ETSU and 13-5 against Kennesaw State. Freshman Taelyn Holley set a school record with four doubles in one game against Kennesaw State.

Coach Karen Weekly said minor tweaks were made to Holley’s stride and how she shifted her weight to help her stay a little more balanced to get to pitches on time.

“She came in and did a lot of work this week,” Weekly said. “So much of it is put your head down and go to work and keep a positive mindset.”

Holley hit 4-4 and also drove in four runs. She said her approach “to the next SEC series was “keeping the same fire.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press and a 10th anniversary edition will be released June 16, 2026.