The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball head coach Katie Burrows announced the addition of Dena Jarrells to the 2019-20 roster.
Jarrells, a guard from Dunlow, W.Va., is beginning her senior season at Saint Joseph High School. Over the last three seasons, she has helped the Irish to a state championship title, a runner-up finish and a berth in the state championships her freshman year. St. Joe's has won three region titles and three sectional championships in her three years on the team.
She is a three-time All-State First Team selection and a three-time pick for the West Virginia High School State All-Tournament Team.
She was named to the Herald Dispatch All-Area team for three straight years.
As a freshman she was named to the All-Conference First Team, set a school record for most points in a game with 43 and most 30-point games while on her way to scoring 651 points in her rookie season. She topped 1,000 points as a sophomore and was named the MVP of the state championship game.
She averaged 27.6 points, five rebounds and four assists per game as a freshman. In each of the last two years she has averaged 16 points, three rebounds and four assists per game.
She played AAU ball for the West Virginia Thunder for nine years. She helped her team to the 2013 AAU DI National Championship and her team was a DI Final Four participant when she was in sixth grade. Her team won the GBA National Championship in 2013 and were the West Virginia AAU State Tournament Champions four straight years. She was a five-time West Virginia AAU All-Tournament Team selection.
Dena is a member of the Honor Roll, currently ranked fifth in her class for GPA and received the Attendance Award. She is a member of the National Honors Society, SADD Member and Event Organizer, a member of the Key Club, MU Alpha Theta and Spanish Honor Society. She is a Special Olympics volunteer and President of the Pro-Life Club.
She was born October 22 in Huntingdon, W.Va., and is the daughter of Dennis and Tammy Jarrells. Her mother Tammy was a basketball scholarship athlete at NAIA Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky where she was a team captain for two years. Dena plans to major in Exercise Science.