Ranking the five most important Tennessee Lady Vols for 2019-2020

Mercedes Russell had to be replaced last year. Cheridene Green has to be replaced this year. Kasiyahna Kushkituah is the player to do that for the Tennessee Lady Vols at center, and Kellie Harper showed that by giving her the start in the exhibition game. It’s pretty clear that she will be the go-to center in the post.

This recruiting class had two other centers, including five-star Tamari Key and three-star Emily Saunders. Also, the addition of junior college transfer Jaiden McCoy and the return of Lou Brown to health opens up the true four spot for once. But of all the true post players, Kushkituah is the one that has to take the lead.

Key may have been a five-star, but Kushkituah was once a five-star herself. And she now has two years of experience, so at 6’4″, the job belongs to her for now. Last year, she played in 28 games and started in 11 of them, averaging three and a half rebounds and nearly five points.

She needs to dramatically improve her free throw shooting, but doing that makes Kushkituah the clear player for Harper to rely on in the post. Spoiler alert, we left both forwards off this list. But that’s because of the fact that the wings are strong, which we’ll get to, and Kushkituah should be elite down low. That turns the fours into luxuries rather than necessities.