BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference women’s basketball preseason media poll is out, and the Tennessee Lady Vols have been picked to finish second in the league in 2022-23 by a vote from a select panel of SEC and national media members.
Tennessee returns 10 players, including four full-time starters, from a squad that started last year 18-1 and finished 25-9 overall and 11-5 in the SEC (third) while advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16. UT also brings aboard six newcomers, including three all-conference recipient transfers, a sophomore newcomer who was a five-star prep recruit and a five-star freshman signee.
Members of the media also selected a Preseason All-SEC Team, and three Lady Vols were named to the first unit, including returning seniors Jordan Horston and Tamari Key and senior transfer Rickea Jackson.
Horston, 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 16.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in 23 starts last season before suffering a season-ending injury at Alabama on Feb. 17. She was a 2022 All-SEC First Team pick by the media and coaches, and was named All-America Honorable Mention by AP and the WBCA. Additionally, Horston made the 2022 Ann Myers Drysdale Top 10, Wooden Late Season List and Naismith Midseason List, and was the South Point Shootout Most Outstanding Player.
Key, a 6-foot-6 center, put up 10.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks while starting all 34 contests as a junior. The school’s all-time record holder for blocked shots and triple-doubles in a career and season, she was named All-SEC Second Team by the media and coaches a year ago and is a two-time member of the SEC All-Defensive Team. Key also was named a 2022 Lisa Leslie Award Top-Five Finalist and was a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist.
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 forward, averaged an SEC-leading 20.3 points as well as 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals while starting all 15 games she played before entering the transfer portal out of Mississippi State last January. Jackson has previously earned WBCA All-America Honorable Mention accolades twice and made the All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Freshman Team and SEC All-Tournament Team in 2019-20.
South Carolina tops the predicted order of finish by the media, with Tennessee, LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Florida and Kentucky rounding out the top half the league. Mississippi State, Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M, Missouri, Auburn and Vanderbilt complete the bottom half.
South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, last season’s unanimous National Player of the Year, was the media’s unanimous choice for 2023 SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. She is joined by teammate Zia Cooke and the three players from Tennessee on the Media Preseason All-SEC First Team.
PRESEASON MEDIA PREDICTIONS
Order of Finish
1. South Carolina
2.Tennessee
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Ole Miss
6. Florida
7. Kentucky
8. Mississippi State
9. Georgia
10. Alabama
11. Texas A&M
12. Missouri
13. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt
Preseason SEC Player of the Year
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Preseason All-SEC First Team
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Rickea Jackson, Tennessee
Jordan Horston, Tennessee
Tamari Key, Tennessee
Preseason All-SEC Second Team
Brittany Davis, Alabama
Alexis Morris, LSU
Angel Reese, LSU
Jessika Carter, Mississippi State
Anastasia Hayes, Mississippi State
Hayley Frank, Missouri
