Jada Eads commits to Lady Vols basketball as Seton Hall transfer guard

Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell continues to add to her backcourt for the 2026-27 basketball season. The latest addition is Seton Hall transfer Jada Eads.

Eads visited Tennessee on Friday and Saturday before picking the Lady Vols as her next destination. She announced her decision on Instagram.

Eads is a 5-foot-7 sophomore who is originally from Orlando, Florida. Eads only played in 16 games this past season due to injury. Eads suffered an ACL in mid-January against DePaul. In the 16 games played, Eads averaged 10.6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

As a freshman, Eads averaged 13.8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Lady Vols and coach Kim Caldwell have now added 10 transfers and currently have 12 players on the roster.

Tennessee has added five guards in Harissoum Coulibaly (Auburn), Avery Mills (Liberty), Kaylene Smikle (Maryland), Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia), Naomi White (Northern Arizona) and Shaelyn Steele (Penn State). The Lady Vols added Zhen Craft (Georgia), Harper Peterson (Stanford) and Fatmata Janneh (Texas A&M).

Caldwell also has signed two high school players in Georgia forward Gabby Minus and guard Irene Oboavwoduo, who is from England.

The 5-10 Coulibaly started 18 of 31 games at Auburn, averaging 10.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman.

The 5-9 Mills where she averaged 15.3 points this season as a sophomore at Liberty, while shooting 42.7% on 3-pointers. She earned First Team All-Conference honors. She was also named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2024.

Smikle is averaging 17.2 points per game and is shooting 34.9% on 3-pointers in four seasons. The 6-foot guard played two seasons at Rutgers and two at Maryland. Smikle played in only seven games as a senior at Maryland last season before having season-ending surgery, which led to her having another year of eligibility.

Theuerkauf was Georgia’s best 3-point shooter, hitting 71 3-pointers at a 40.6% clip. The 5-9 guard averaged 11.9 points and ended the season on a hot streak. She scored in double-figures in nine of her final 12 games. She had two games with five 3-pointers and at least 20 points in that span.

The 5-9 White was the highest-scoring freshman in Division I last season. She averaged 20.8 points at Northern Arizona. She set school records for single-season scoring with 667 points and 92 3-pointers.

The 5-6 Steele played in 27 games last season starting 8. She averaged 2 points a game and 3 rebounds. 

Steele also had 31 assists. In two seasons with the Nittany Lions, Steele had 39 steals.

Craft is a 6-2 forward who was one of Georgia’s top reserves as a freshman. She played in 27 games with four starts, averaging 15.8 minutes per game. She averaged 5.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Janneh, a 6-2 forward from England, averaged just shy of a double-double last season at Texas A&M.

Janneh spent one season at Texas A&M after starting her career at Saint Peter’s. She was a superstar for the Peacocks. She averaged 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Janneh led Division I in defensive rebounds that season.

Peterson played in 10 games logging a total of 37 minutes on the floor last season and she scored a total of 11 points. She was returning from a season-ending injury as a freshman.