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Tennessee Lady Vols set for dominant postgame by adding transfer Alexus Dye

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 4, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; SEC logo on the floor at Thompson-Boling Arena before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; SEC logo on the floor at Thompson-Boling Arena before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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They still have to find a way to offset the departure of Rennia Davis, but Kellie Harper continues to find ways to improve the Tennessee Lady Vols already-dominant front court. She did so again with a major pickup in that area.

Troy Trojans transfer forward and Sun Belt Player of the Year Alexus Dye announced she is heading to Rocky Top. Dye, who will be a senior, averaged 16.6 points and 12.6 rebounds last year while shooting 49.5 percent from the field.

Standing at just 6’0″, Dye only spent two years at Troy. She committed out of Alabama to Gulf Coast State College, a junior college in Florida, and led the Commodores to the 2018-2019 national title at their level. Dye announced her commitment to the Tennessee Lady Vols Wednesday evening on Instagram.

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A graduate of Wenonah High School in Birmingham, Ala., Dye continued her winning ways from JuCo in Panama City, Fla. to Troy back in her home state. She led the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament this past year, where they lost in the first round, and would have led them there in 2020, when she averaged 10 points and nine and a half rebounds, were the season not canceled.

Although she doesn’t bring the length that some of the other Tennessee Lady Vols post players do, Dye clearly has impressive skills. Her calling card is being an elite rebounder, but she does other little things as well, including shooting 73.7 percent from the free throw line this past year and averaging over a steal a game.

With Davis gone, Dye could help pick up some of the slack in the paint. She also gives Harper another option with the recent transfer of forward Jaiden McCoy, who appears set to simply take Dye’s place as she went to Troy.

Assuming graduate transfer Keyen Green, who joined the Tennessee Lady Vols from the Liberty Flames last year, is healthy after missing all of last season due to a knee injury, Harper has multiple power forwards with a unique amount of skill on her roster now. She should truly be able to play the inside-out game she wants.

Beyond Green and Dye bringing the skill, though, there is still the dominant inside game. Sure, Kasiyahna Kushkituah may be gone, but Tamari Key is back. Also, Emily Saunders was brought in to succeed Kushkituah anyway, and it’ll be her time next year.

Then there is the recruiting front, and four-star 6’2″ forwards Sara Puckett and Karoline Striplin are set to join the team. Key, Saunders, Green and Dye could make for a dominant inside game once again while the two freshmen provide depth. Rae Burrell is still an elite wing who can play in the paint as well when needed.

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Add in the fact that Samantha Williams, a 6’0″ forward for the Auburn Tigers in the 1990s who has head coaching experience with the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and is a rising star, is Harper’s new assistant, and the inside game could be unstoppable. Everything is in place for the Tennessee Lady Vols to continue to dominate the paint.