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Tennessee Lady Vols’ Rae Burrell named a top 25 player for 2021-2022

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee’s Rae Burrell (12) with a 3-point attempt during an NCAA women’s basketball game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Auburn Tigers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday, February 28, 2021.Kns Ladyvols Auburn
Tennessee’s Rae Burrell (12) with a 3-point attempt during an NCAA women’s basketball game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Auburn Tigers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday, February 28, 2021.Kns Ladyvols Auburn /
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With Rennia Davis gone, there are lots of questions about what the Tennessee Lady Vols will do on the wing next year as Kellie Harper shores up her inside-out game in a big way. Who will be that go-to scoring option when all else breaks down?

Obviously, Rae Burrell, who has been an elite scorer from the backcourt and can play the wing herself, will be expected to take on a larger role in the process. That expectation now has her generating some real hype entering the year.

Charlie Creme of ESPN ranked the rising senior No. 24 on his top 25 players for the 2021-2022 season. Burrell was the only Tennessee Lady Vols player on the list. Here’s what he wrote about her in his column.

"From spot minutes as a freshman to role player as a sophomore to surprising breakout star this past season, Burrell is now Tennessee’s best player. At times, she carried the Lady Vols in 2020-21. They might not have overcome the early season struggles of Rennia Davis without her. While Burrell’s game is primarily built on energy and outworking the opponent, all of her shooting numbers have made huge improvements, most notably her 3-point percentage, which went from 32.8% as a sophomore to a team-leading 40.2% last season."

Although listed as a forward, Burrell has spent a lot of time at the two, and she could play either the two or the three spots. She’s been one of the great development stories on Rocky Top, particularly while playing under Harper.

As Burrell has seen more minutes, she has improved her production. In 2018-2019, under Holly Warlick, she averaged three and a half points a game in just under 13 minutes a game. The next year, she became a rotational player under Harper and emerged into a starter the final nine games of the year, averaging over 12 points and just under six rebounds a game.

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This past year, Burrell’s emergence into a breakout star, as Creme noted, saw her average 16.8 points per game. Davis’ departure will require her to take on more production than ever before, and that could be a good sign for her, as she has overachieved expectations each of the past two years once she began to log more minutes.

Creme is dead-on about Burrell’s improvement and her carrying the team when Davis struggled early last year. She’s clearly a hard worker, and that shows up in her improved efficiency, which Creme also brought up with the way she shot the three.

An underrated part about Burrell’s improvement, though, is her efficiency elsewhere. She had six fewer turnovers last year despite her usage rate increasing dramatically, and she nearly averaged two assists a game, upping it by nearly half an assist from the previous year.

Most notably, Burrell’s free throw shooting improved from 56.8 percent her freshman year to 60 percent her sophomore year to 82.5 percent last year. Simply put, she has gotten better in every way and has become a more complete player. Next year, she will likely be the Tennessee Lady Vols’ greatest weapon and could become a superstar.