KNOXVILLE – Evina Westbrook is following through on her intention to transfer from Tennessee, leaving behind a huge void for first-year coach Kellie Harper to fill.
UT announced in a two-sentence release on Tuesday that the Lady Vols starting point guard for the past two seasons was departing. The release was a statement from Harper that read:
“Evina and I met to discuss her future and she shared with me that she has decided to transfer.
We wish her well.”
It’s not known whether Westbrook and Harper conferred again after their meeting on Monday afternoon. Harper indicated before the meeting that she was eager to resolve the matter.
“I want to be respectful of her decision and I will be,” Harper said on Monday. “But for the sake of the team, I think it’s time we start making some decisions.”
Westbrook put her name in the transfer portal two weeks ago, thereby allowing other schools to contact her. She was critical of the previous coaching staff following Tennessee’s 89-77 loss to UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, saying: “Steps need to be taken with our staff.”
The 6-foot sophomore was UT’s most productive scorer at the season’s start. She spent the offseason working with Tennessee men’s coach Rick Barnes on her shooting technique and it showed. She had four consecutive scoring games of 20-plus points during the non-conference portion of UT’s schedule, including 29 points against both Oklahoma State and Stanford.
She finished with 21 games of double-figure scoring and a team leading per-game scoring average of 15.1.
Harper indicated that incoming freshman Jordan Horston will be given an opportunity to play point guard next season. The 6-foot-2 Horston was named the most valuable player of the McDonald’s All-American game last month in Atlanta. She averaged 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game as a senior last season at Africentric Early College school in Columbus, Ohio.
Brown Waiver Approved: Lou Brown’s appeal for a sixth year of eligibility has been approved, allowing her to play for Tennessee next season.
The 6-foot-3 forward, a graduate transfer from Washington State, missed last season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament in October.
“This injury has been tougher on me in more ways than one,” Brown said in a university release. “So waking up to this news just reassured that everything that I’ve put into getting back to being healthy.”
Lockwood will coach again: Former UT assistant Dean Lockwood, who served as interim coach until Harper was hired, said Monday that he has five job offers to be a women’s basketball assistant coach and intends to continue coaching.
“I have so much juice left and so much fire left for this,” he said. “I’m so ready to do this again.”
Lockwood served on the Lady Vols staffs of Pat Summitt and Holly Warlick for a total of 15 years.
“Fifteen years here have been an amazing blessing,” he said. “There is some sadness but no bitterness.”
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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 can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com