Riley Makalusky commits to Lady Vols basketball as West Virginia transfer

Riley Makalusky committed to Lady Vols basketball on Wednesday, filling the final spot on coach Kim Caldwell’s roster.

The 6-foot-2 forward is averaging 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 98 career games. She is a 39.4% 3-point shooter, hitting 97 of 246 attempts in three seasons.

Makalusky played at West Virginia last season after spending her first two seasons at Butler. She was named to the Big East all-freshman team after she averaged 6.7 points and shot 46.1% on 3-pointers. She averaged a career-best 8.1 points as a sophomore at Butler.

Makalusky is the 13th transfer portal addition for Caldwell and the Lady Vols, who started the offseason with no returning players but now filled out the roster. She is the fourth transfer this week.

Tennessee has added eight guards in Harissoum Coulibaly (Auburn), Jada Eads (Seton Hall), Kennedy Fauntleroy (East Carolina), Avery Mills (Liberty), Kaylene Smikle (Maryland), Shaelyn Steele (Penn State), Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia) and Naomi White (Northern Arizona). Including Makalusky, the Lady Vols added five forwards in Zhen Craft (Georgia), Fatmata Janneh (Texas A&M), Aaliyah Moore (Texas) and Harper Peterson (Stanford).

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.

Eads, a 5-7 guard, is averaging 12.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in her career. She was named first-team All-Big East as a freshman in 2024-25. She played in 16 games last season at Seton Hall before an ACL injury ended her season.

Fauntleroy has scored almost 1,000 points in her career. She was named the American Conference newcomer of the year and the co-defensive player of the year at East Carolina last season. She averaged 13.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds. She averaged 2.6 steals.

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.

Steele, a 5-6 guard, played in 27 games last season, starting eight She averaged 1.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. 

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.

Moore, a 6-1 forward, is averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 89 career games in four seasons at Texas. She had surgeries on both knees, ending her season in the 2024-25 campaign and did not play last season while recovering.

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.