Tennessee Lady Vols: Ranking five 2019-2020 newcomers by potential impact

It’s clear that the Tennessee Lady Vols need immediate help in the post-game. After all, Cheridene Green is a huge loss for them down low. However, Emily Saunders is not going to be the one to make an immediate impact for them, even if she has the potential to provide some depth for Kellie Harper’s first team.

A three-star recruit, Saunders has the lowest rating of anybody in the class. And she doesn’t have any experience to make up for it. So despite her impressive 6’5″ frame, she will likely need a year to develop before having a chance to make a splash on the court. There’s nothing wrong with that either when you’re on a rebuilding team.

Tennessee has two other 6’5″ players on the team already, including a new recruit and Kasiyahna Kushkituah, who saw 14 minutes a game off the bench last year. Those two players really limit Saunders’s ability to see a significant amount of time the court as a true center. And it’s why she’s at the bottom of this list.

When you add returning forwards like Kamera Harris and the return of Lou Brown to health, which we mentioned in the opening slide, this is a year for Saunders to develop. Still, don’t count out the potential for her to become a rotational player and see some sparing minutes providing depth. She may be good enough to do that.