KNOXVILLE – Kellie Harper received her first recruiting commitment as Tennessee’s women’s basketball coach and it came from a player with a background similar to Harper’s.
Tess Darby, a 6-foot-1 guard/forward from Greenfield High, a Class 1A school in West Tennessee, committed to the Lady Vols on Friday, announcing her decision on Twitter. She made an official campus visit to UT last weekend.
Harper grew up in Sparta, Tn., and played guard for White County before coming to Tennessee and playing on three national championship teams (1996-98).
“I have been blessed and humbled to be recruited by so many great schools and amazing coaches throughout this process,” Darby wrote. “I am grateful for my family and my teammates that are always there to support me and remind me to keep working hard and never be satisfied.”
Lady Vols freshman Tamari Key responded to Darby’s decision in the same social media forum in saying, “welcome to the fam.”
According to the Jackson Sun, Darby averaged 19.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game last season. She had scholarship offers from West Virginia, Texas Tech, Illinois and Georgia Tech after winning an AAU national championship this summer with the Tennessee Flight Silver EYBL team.
Tennessee made its scholarship offer in September.
Darby is not ranked among the top prospects for the Class of 2020 by the major recruiting services. Prospectnation.com rates her a four-star prospect but has her ranked No. 144 in the class.
Nonetheless, Darby previews as an effective perimeter shooter, which the Lady Vols could use. At this point, her commitment helps as well, since Harper and her staff are playing catch-up for this recruiting class after coming to UT this spring.
Forward Angel Reese, who’s ranked second in the Class of 2020 by ESPN HoopGurlz, made an official recruiting visit in August but no longer is considering Tennessee. East Hamilton star Madison Hayes didn’t make an official visit before committing last month to Mississippi State.
Madeline Westbeld, a five-star forward from Fairmont, Ohio, visited the weekend of Oct. 4. She’s also visited Notre Dame, Louisville, Ohio State and UCLA.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri who covered University of Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988-2019. He may be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.