Summitt: Signees will help depth

The backcourt was at the forefront of Tennessee's recruiting this fall, and women's basketball signees Lauren Avant and Meighan Simmons have filled the bill.

Avant, from Memphis Lausanne Collegiate School, is a true point guard. Simmons, from Steele High in suburban San Antonio, is an off guard with impressive scoring credentials.

Avant and Simmons signed last week and have submitted their paperwork to UT.

The 5-foot-9 Avant, a two-time Division II-A Miss Basketball honoree, committed to Tennessee as a ninth-grader and has been a frequent campus visitor. Her mother, Dana, is a Tennessee graduate.

"She comes up for almost every football game,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said. "She's been on this campus about as much as I have."

Summitt described Avant as "a competitive, driven person" who has "a good feel for the game" as a point guard.

The 5-foot-9 Simmons, the two-time San Antonio Express-News player of the year, is on pace to become the leading scorer in San Antonio girls high school history, surpassing Clarissa Davis, who had an All-America collegiate career at Texas.

Tennessee got a late start on recruiting Simmons. An extra scholarship wasn't available until January, when guard Cait McMahan decided to stop playing because of persistent knee problems. Summitt said the Lady Vols benefitted from Simmons' admiration for former Lady Vols star Candace Parker.

"She's a really nice shooter,'' Summitt said of Simmons. "She has great touch. She'll stretch the defense for us."

Summitt also described Simmons as possessing the requisite athletic skills for being a strong perimeter defender.

Adding Avant and Simmons will give UT a full complement of 15 players for next season, provided Amber Gray is back after undergoing brain surgery this summer. Normally Summitt doesn't favor a full roster, but she conceded to uncertainty at this point about the workable depth of the current rank and file.

"That's part of it,'' she said.

UT's next recruiting priority will be the frontcourt. The Lady Vols received a verbal commitment this fall from Cierra Burdick, a 6-2 forward from Charlotte.

On The Move: The Tennessee-Virginia tip-off Sunday was moved back two hours to 4 p.m. to avoid a conflict with the Virginia men's soccer team, which will be playing an NCAA tournament second-round match at 1.

The Cavaliers are the second seed in the tournament.

"Based on the postseason process we ultimately decided that it would be difficult to move the start time for the soccer match to an evening time slot,'' said Jon Oliver, Virginia's executive associate director of athletics. "We appreciate the Tennessee women's basketball program working with us regarding this matter."

Injury Update: Lady Vols freshman forward Faith Dupree won't play Sunday because of back problems.

Forward Alyssia Brewer and guard Kamiko Williams will be back after missing Tuesday's game against Texas Tech because of a violation of team policy.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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