Transfer Avery Strickland Signs With Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee women's basketball head coach Kellie Harper confirmed Thursday that she has received an SEC Grant-in-Aid (GIA) and Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA) from transfer Avery "Ace" Strickland.

The 5-foot-10 Strickland, who played her freshman season at Pitt in 2022-23, is a product of Farragut High School in Knoxville and returns to Rocky Top to compete for her hometown Lady Vols. She announced her commitment via social media on Tuesday.

"We are very happy to welcome Avery back home," Harper said. "She is a high-motor wing with good size and athleticism who plays hard. She can defend, rebound and shoot the ball well but also has the ability to put the ball on the floor. We are pleased to add a player with her skill set and high character to our team and look forward to having her represent our program."

Strickland averaged 6.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 20.1 minutes per game while appearing in all 30 contests and earning 11 starts for the Panthers during her first year in college. She paced Pitt with a team-leading 39 three-pointers, hitting those with 33.9 percent accuracy. That total of treys would have ranked second for UT last season.

Earning 20 or more minutes of duty on 16 occasions, Strickland scored in double figures four times, including three occasions in the last 10 contests of the season. During the last six games of the campaign, she increased her production to 8.3 points and 2.5 rebounds, hit 11 three-pointers and shot 45 percent overall and 42.3 percent on treys.

Her best games last season came against Georgia Tech (17 pts., 4 rebs., 1 ast., 1 stl., 37 minutes), Loyola-Maryland (17 pts., 2 rebs., 2 stls., 1 ast., 21 min.), Boston College (13 pts., 3 rebs., 2 asts., 1 stl., 20 min.) and Syracuse (11 pts., 1 reb., 1 ast., 1 blk., 23 min.).

In high school, Strickland was a two-time all-state and Knox News All-PrepXtra first team selection in basketball (2021, 2022) as well as an all-state honoree in softball (2021) and track & field (2022). She finished her senior season averaging 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 48 percent from the floor.

Strickland led her FHS squad to a 28-9 record and the program's first appearance in the state championship game. During that three-game tournament run, she averaged 20.7 ppg., 6.3 rpg., 2.0 apg. and shot 52.2 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from the arc.

The news about Strickland follows a previously-announced transfer, point guard Destinee Wells from Belmont, in joining the Tennessee program. Wells, a three-time all-conference performer has two years of eligibility remaining and is coming off a season in which she averaged 18.1 ppg., 4.7 apg., 3.2 rpg. and 1.4 spg. while hitting 65 three-pointers and shooting those at a 45.5 percent rate. She is ESPN's No. 17 ranked player in the transfer portal.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Related Videos