One of the questions about new Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper was what kind of success she could have on the recruiting trail at Tennessee. So far, she’s keeping the Lady Vols right on track in that regard.
Not only did Harper retain all of Tennessee’s fall signees in the 2019 class, but she’s made several additions herself on the recruiting trail to help bolster the Lady Vols’ roster for the 2019-20 season. Now, she and the Lady Vol program are finalists for one of the best prospects in the 2020 cycle.
Angel Reese is rated as the No. 2 overall player and No. 1 wing in the 2020 class according to ESPN’s women’s basketball recruiting rankings. She released a list of her top 10 teams a while ago, but she’s now trimmed down that list to five finalists, and Tennessee is one of them.
The Lady Vols are finalists for Reese along with Maryland, South Carolina, Southern Cal, and Syracuse. All five of those schools will be getting official visits from Reese, and two of those visits have already been scheduled. Reese will visit Maryland on September 6th and will travel to Knoxville on September 13th. She plans on signing with a school in November.
The 6-foot-3 wing plays for St. Francis Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. According to an interview with Walter Villa of ESPNW, her biggest priority is finding a place that feels like home. Along with winning a national title.
“I’m looking for a team that is family-oriented — a home away from home,” Reese told ESPNW. “I want to win a national championship.”
The Lady Vols signed the No. 2 overall player in the 2019 class last fall when guard Jordan Horston signed on to join Tennessee for the 2019-20 season. In fact, the Lady Vols have signed a top-10 player per ESPN’s recruiting rankings in three-straight recruiting cycles, including the No. 2 overall prospect in two of the last three years (Horston in 2019, Evina Westbrook in 2017).
Reese was voted the USA Today Maryland Player of the Year as a junior this past season, and she was named the All-Metro Player of the Year as well. She earned an invite to tryout for the USA Basketball U19 team but declined so she could spend one last summer with her AAU team, Team Takeover.
As a junior for St. Francis Academy, Reese averaged 22.6 points, 4.2 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 2.3 steals on the way to her Player of the Year honors.
Right now, the Lady Vols don’t have any commitments in their 2020 recruiting class. Tennessee signed three players in the fall signing period of the 2019 class and also signed Australian guard Jessie Rennie in the spring signing period. Junior college prospect and Knoxville native Jaiden McCoy also signed on with the Lady Vols this offseason.
