Jewel Spear

/ Women's Basketball

Sara Puckett

G/F

/ Women's Basketball

Rickea Jackson

/ Women's Basketball

Kaniya Boyd

/ Women's Basketball

Kaiya Wynn

/ Women's Basketball

Destinee Wells

/ Women's Basketball

Karoline Striplin

/ Women's Basketball

Edie Darby

/ Women's Basketball

Avery Strickland

G/F

/ Women's Basketball

Jasmine Powell

/ Women's Basketball

Tamari Key

/ Women's Basketball

Tess Darby

G/F

/ Women's Basketball

Jillian Hollingshead

/ Women's Basketball

Talaysia Cooper

/ Women's Basketball

Sara Puckett

Class:
Junior
Position:
G/F
Height:
6-2
Hometown:
Muscle Shoals, Ala.
High School:
Muscle Shoals H.S.
Player Shop:
Shop

CAREER HIGHS

* Indicates most recent high

Points: 24 // Memphis, 11/13/23
Rebounds: 10 // Arkansas, 1/31/22
Assists: 5 // Texas A&M, 1/14/24*
Steals: 4 // Samford, 11/5/24
Blocks: 3 // Liberty, 12/31/23
Field Goals: 9 // Memphis, 11/13/23
3-Pointers: 4 // Kentucky, 3/7/24*
Free Throws: 5 // MTSU, 11/12/24*
Minutes: 39 // Memphis, 11/13/23

Sara Puckett | Kim Caldwell Show Feature

CAREER HONORS

SEC Academic Honor Roll -- 2024-25
CSC Academic All-District -- 2024-25
SEC Academic Honor Roll -- 2023-24
CSC Academic All-District -- 2023-24
SEC Academic Honor Roll -- 2022-23
VOLeaders Academy -- 2022-23
SEC Academic Honor Roll -- 2021-22
SEC All-Freshman Team -- 2021-22
SEC Freshman of the Week (12/7) -- 2021-22

CAREER SUMMARY

Appeared in 138 games and started 59 over four seasons, averaging 6.3 ppg. and 3.5 rpg.
Tallied 876 points, 483 rebounds, 140 assists, 110 three-pointers and 80 steals as a Lady Vol.
Shot percentages of 41.1 from the field, 31.3 from the arc and 83.1 from the free-throw line.
Her career free-throw percentage of 83.1 (108-130) was the 11th-best in program history.

2024-25 - SENIOR

Appeared in 34 games and started nine, averaging 4.6 ppg. and 3.1 rpg. and registering career highs in steals (26) and blocks (8).
Her 84.6 percentage from the charity stripe ranked second on the team.
Scored in double figures seven times during her final season on Rocky Top, ranking sixth on the team in that category.
Led the team in rebounding on six occasions, finishing third-best in that area.
Led Tennessee with a season high of 17 points along with seven rebounds vs. Tulsa at the West Palm Beach Classic.
Paced the team for the second straight contest, matching her season best with 17 points and adding eight rebounds vs. Winthrop.
Scored 13 points, matched her career high with five free throws and added four boards vs. Middle Tennessee.
Accumulated 12 points via a season-high four field goals while adding four rebounds and three assists vs. Liberty.
Tossed in 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and added three assists and a steal vs. UT Martin.
Netted 11 points and collected a season-high nine rebounds along with a steal and a block at Arkansas.
Contributed 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and collected six rebounds and a steal off the bench against N.C. Central.
Knocked down two huge three-pointers and grabbed four boards against UConn.
Carded five points, one board and an assist vs. South Florida in the NCAA First Round.
Secured a team-leading seven boards and one block at Missouri.
Charted five points, three assists, two steals and a board versus No. 9/10 Oklahoma.
Finished with five points, a pair of boards and a block versus No. 17/20 Iowa.

2023-24 - JUNIOR

One of only two Lady Vols to start all 33 games, averaging career bests of 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Shot career-high percentages of 44.7 from the field and 35.2 beyond the arc, knocking down a best of 38 threes for the third-highest total on the team.
Her free-throw percentage of 86.3 (44-51) ranks No. 10 in Lady Vol history for those with a minimum of 50 attempts.
She would have ranked second in the SEC at the charity stripe, but she did not meet the required minimum of 2.5 makes per game to qualify.
Hit her last 13 free throws to end the season, beginning at Vanderbilt on Feb. 18.
Scored in double figures a career-most 16 times, including the first six games of the campaign.
She is the only Lady Vol during the past five years to open a season with six consecutive games scoring in double figures.
Registered her first three collegiate performances of 20 points or more.
Scorched the nets for a career-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds vs. Memphis.
Had 22 points and eight rebounds vs. Kentucky in the SEC second round, knocking down four of six three-point attempts.
Also went four of six beyond the arc against Florida, finishing with 20 points and eight boards against the Gators.
Went seven of 10 vs. South Carolina in Knoxville, contributing 15 points, five boards, two assists and two steals.
Was a perfect three of three from deep at No. 18/22 Florida State, finishing with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Shot five of 10 from the field, including a 3-for-4 day from deep, en route to 15 points and five boards vs. Missouri.
Went five of nine from the field to collect 14 points in the NCAA First Round vs. Green Bay.
Had a 13-point, seven-rebound day vs. No. 21/19 Indiana and a 13/8 effort vs. No. 22/20 Oklahoma at the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off.
Carded 10 points and grabbed six caroms vs. No. 16/13 Ohio State.

2022-23 - SOPHOMORE

Played 37 games and started 15, averaging 4.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 15.6 minutes per contest.
Ranked second on the team in three-pointers made with a career-best 26.
Connected on 22 of 24 free-throw attempts to check in at 91.7 percent.
Was 7-of-9 on the day and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc at Missouri, hitting the game-tying trey with 40 seconds on the clock to finish with a season-high 17 points.
Tallied 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 accuracy at the charity stripe against Wright State.
Went a perfect three of three from behind the arc against Toledo en route to a team-leading 13 points in the NCAA Second Round.
Knocked down a career-high-tying three treys against Stanford en route to 11 points.
Logged seven points, four rebounds and two assists in the second meeting vs. Vanderbilt.
Played a season-most 29 minutes vs. Chattanooga, carding eight points with 2022-23 highs of four assists and two blocks.
Finished the season with six points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal vs. No. 4/5 Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16.

2021-22 - FRESHMAN

Appeared in all 34 games as a freshman and earned starts vs. Chattanooga and in the SEC opener vs. Alabama.
Averaged 21.4 minutes, 6.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game for the season.
Her 23 three-pointers ranked third on the team and her 39 assists were fourth.
Averaged 7.0 ppg. in the NCAA Tournament, shooting 50 percent on field goals and threes and 75 percent at the line.
With a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 on the line, she drained a three with 18 seconds left to give UT the lead over Belmont, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds.
Earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after dropping a career-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting to fuel a come-from-behind win at Virginia Tech.
Logged her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against Arkansas.
Knocked down a career-best three treys en route to a career-high and team-leading 19 points against ETSU.
Popped in 11 points vs. Kansas at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout for her first double-figure scoring effort.
Contributed eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 26 key minutes during a road win at UCF.
Chipped in eight points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes of action during UT’s win at Vanderbilt.
Finished with seven points and four rebounds in UT’s NCAA First Round win over Buffalo.
Tallied seven points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists vs. Chattanooga in her first collegiate start.
Scored all five of her points in the final four minutes of UT’s win against Southern Illinois, including the go-ahead 3-pointer.

USA/SUMMER BASKETBALL

Played on Tennessee's entry in the 2022 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals, helping the Lady Vols go 3-2 and advance to the quarterfinal round.
Was UT's leader in two-point buckets (7) and third-leading scorer during its five-game run in the tourney.

HIGH SCHOOL

No. 28 overall player, No. 8 forward, 4.5-star rating by ProspectsNation.com.
No. 43 overall player, No. 8 forward, four-star rating in the espnW 100.
No. 43 overall player by All-Star Girls Report.
No. 47 overall player by Blue Star.
No. 59 in World Exposure Report.
Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year (2021).
WBCA All-America Honorable Mention (2021).
Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School All-America Honorable Mention (2021).
Played in PassThaBall Who’s NXT All-American Game (2021).
Played in Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. (2021).
Selected for AHSAA North-South All-Star Game (2020).
Alabama MaxPreps Player of the Year (2021).
ASWA 6A Player of the Year (2021).
Three-time ASWA 6A All-State First Team (2019, 2020, 2021).
ASWA 6A All-State Third Team (2018).
TimesDaily 4A-7A Girls Player of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021).
TimesDaily All-Area First Team (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021).
Times Daily Overall Female Athlete of the Year (2019).
Scored 2,349 points and pulled down 1,215 rebounds during her career.
Averaged 20.6 ppg., 10.1 rpg., 2.6 apg., 2.3 spg. and 1.5 bpg. as a senior.
Averaged 20.3 ppg., 11.4 rpg., 2.0 apg., 2.0 spg. and 1.2 bpg. as a junior.
Put up 19.0 ppg., 9.0 rpg., 2.7 apg., 2.5 spg. and 1.3 bpg. as a sophomore.
Played on the MSHS varsity since seventh grade.
Participated in volleyball all four seasons at MSHS.
Member of National Honor Society and Spanish Club among other activities.

PERSONAL

Full name is Sara Frances Puckett.
Born in Sheffield, Ala., on Nov. 12, 2002.
Parents are Joey and Christy Puckett.
Has an older brother (Jacob) and younger sister (Hanna).
Mother played a season of basketball at the University of North Alabama.
Chose UT over Louisville and Georgia.
Lists the trombone as an instrument she can play.
Graduated in May 2025 as a kinesiology major with a minor in business administration.
Recipient of the Randall Keith Nutt Athletic Scholarship Endowment.