Vols land 6-foot-3 Edwards, No. 2 recruit in '26

Oliviyah Edwards, the No. 2 subordinate successful the 2026 SC Next 100 class, has committed to Tennessee, she announced Saturday.

The 6-foot-3 guardant from Washington authorities chose Kim Caldwell and the Lady Volunteers implicit USC, South Carolina, LSU, Florida and Washington.

"I chose the University of Tennessee due to the fact that I felt welcomed from the precise beginning," Edwards told ESPN. "The freshman people reached retired and made maine consciousness a portion of the household close away. Most importantly, I emotion their benignant of play and the state it gives maine connected the court. This programme has an astonishing legacy, and I cannot hold to beryllium a portion of it."

Edwards astir precocious averaged 17 points and 7.8 rebounds connected 63.5% shooting from the tract for the Northwest Greyhounds this past year, including taking the squad to the Final Four of the adidas 3ssb circuit.

She has arguably the astir upside among the apical 3 players successful the 2026 people -- No. 1 Saniyah Hall (USC) and No. 3 Olivia Vukosa (uncommitted) -- and tin defender astir immoderate presumption connected the floor.

She's besides susceptible of feats similar dunking successful the mediate of a crippled aft slicing done a passing lane connected defense, and her immense endowment creates a precocious standard.

Edwards is the archetypal committedness for the Tennessee. She is the highest-rated enlistee for the Lady Volunteers since 2019 (No. 2 Jordan Horston, for erstwhile caput manager Holly Warlock), and the archetypal top-five enlistee for Caldwell.

The second-year manager has truthful acold proven she tin vie for apical talent: She recruited the No. 2 people for 2025 successful her archetypal twelvemonth astatine the helm, featuring five-stars No. 9 Mia Pauldo, No. 17 Deniya Prawl and No. 20 Jaida Civil, on with No. 45 Lauren Hurst and No. 57 Mya Pauldo.

For the 2026 cycle, the Lady Vols stay successful the premix for five-stars Trinity Jones (No. 7), Brihanna Crittendon (No. 9), Jacy Abii (No. 10) and Bella Fleming (No. 12).