Cora HallKnoxville News Sentinel
The future of the Kim Caldwell era of Lady Vols basketball has begun with the commitment of the Pauldo twins, who are both ranked in the top 50 of the 2025 class.
Mya and Mia Pauldo announced their commitment to Tennessee last week, marking the first high school commitments for Caldwell since she was hired in April. Caldwell also brought in five transfers for the 2024-25 season.
The Pauldo twins are 5-foot-5 point guards who play at Morris Catholic High School in New Jersey. Mia is a five-star ranked No. 13 in the 2025 class and Mya is a four-star prospect ranked No. 49. As top players start to announce their college destination, here's a look at the Lady Vols' scholarships and what that means for the 2025 class.
Lady Vols basketball roster thins out after 2024-25 season
Tennessee will have 14 scholarship players next season, but it will only have half as many returners going into the 2025-26 season.
Jewel Spear, Rapuluchi Ayodele and Tess Darby are fifth-year seniors using their COVID-19 extra year of eligibility. Sara Puckett, Kaiya Wynn, Samara Spencer and Jillian Hollingshead are all seniors who will be out of eligibility after next season. Tennessee will lose at least seven players to graduation.
Destinee Wells suffered a season-ending injury 10 games in to last season. She is listed as a redshirt senior on the 2024-25 roster, though she wouldn't apply for a medical redshirt until after next season when she is out of eligibility. Wells is using her COVID year for next season and could play in 2025-26 if a medical redshirt is approved.
If Wells does return, that would mean nine scholarship players are on the 2025-26 roster. Ruby Whitehorn, Lazaria Spearman and Avery Strickland would be seniors, Alyssa Latham and Talaysia Cooper would be juniors, Kaniya Boyd would be a sophom*ore and the Pauldo twins would be freshmen. Walk-on guard Edie Darby would also be a senior.
Seven of the nine possible returners would be guards, so UT would need wings and post players. After this season, there will be at least six open scholarships with four seniors on the roster. Tennessee has room for more signees in the 2025 class while still leaving room for transfer portal additions.
Who could round out Kim Caldwell's Tennessee's 2025 class?
Nyla Brooks
Nyla Brooks committed to Tennessee as a sophom*ore but reopened her recruitment when former coach Kellie Harper was fired in April. Brooks, who's 6-foot-1, is a five-star wing ranked No. 14 in the 2025 class.
Brooks drew a considerable amount of attention after reopening her recruitment, but the Lady Vols are still in the running and Brooks is taking a visit in October. Brooks took visits to Maryland and North Carolina in June and has also received offers from Texas, Mississippi State, Florida, Arizona, Clemson, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Ohio State.
Lauren Hurst
Caldwell and her staff have also re-offered Lauren Hurst, an in-state dual sport star from Cleveland. Hurst is a four-star wing ranked No. 35 in the 2025 class. The 6-2 prospect also won 2023Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee for volleyball.
Her older brother, Grant Hurst, is a walk-on for the Vols basketball team. Hurst visited UT last summer and is also being heavily pursued by Clemson, which offered her a spot on both the basketball and volleyball teams.
Taliyah Henderson
Five-star wing Taliyah Henderson received an offer from Caldwell in May. Henderson, 6-0, is ranked No. 21 in the 2025 class and is also a star track runner. She averaged 15.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 steals as a junior last season at Salpointe Catholic in Tucson, Arizona.
Henderson, who has experience with the Canadian youth national teams, also holds offers from UConn, North Carolina, Ohio State, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville and Maryland.
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Aaliyah Chavez
Tennessee made the top 10 final schools for the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, Aaliyah Chavez. The five-star point guard out of Lubbock, Texas, is being pursued by all the top programs, including South Carolina, Texas, LSU, USC, UCLA and Ohio State.
Chavez, 5-9, has taken unofficial visits to LSU and Texas. She recently told On3 that she just starting talking with Caldwell, and she loves Tennessee's recruiting – they talk to her "almost every day." The Lady Vols have no shortage of guards, but Chavez is a program-changing recruit.
Jaida Civil
Tennessee offered Jaida Civil in May, and she has continued to pick up offers from top schools throughout the summer. The 6-0 guard from Vero Beach, Florida, is also being pursued by South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida State, Baylor and several other SEC schools.
Civil is a four-star prospect ranked No. 40 in the 2025 class. She played point guard for Palm Bay Magnet High School last season, and she led the team in points (14.2) and assists (4.9) in her first season with the Pirates. She also averaged 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals.
Cora Hallcovers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter@corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage,consider a digital subscriptionthat allows you to access all of it.
