No. 5/4-ranked UT, which opens its season Tuesday night at No. 14/15 Ohio State, is represented on the Naismith list by seniors Jordan Horston, Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key. The Lady Vols are one of only two programs (South Carolina is the other) to have three players receiving recognition on the preseason list.
The midseason 30 team will be announced in early January, and then the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21, 2023, and the winner of the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy for Women’s Player of the Year will be announced on March 29, 2023.
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 Meyers Drysdale Top 10, Wooden Late Season List and Naismith Midseason List, and was the South Point Shootout Most Outstanding Player. She is a member of the 2022-23 Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Watch List and an All-SEC First Team preseason pick by the coaches, media and the USA TODAY Sports Network.
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. She is a member of the 2022-23 Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List and an All-SEC First Team preseason pick by the media and All-SEC Second Team choice by the coaches and the USA TODAY Sports Network.
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…
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