KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell announced Wednesday that she has received an SEC Grant-in-Aid (GIA) and Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA) from transfer Lazaria Spearman (pronounced la-ZAR-ee-uh).
The 6-foot-4 forward, who played in 60 games over the past two seasons at the University of Miami, is a native of Dacula, Ga., and a product of Dacula High School (pronounced duh-CUE-luh). Spearman will be a junior during the 2024-25 campaign and is the second player to sign with UT under the leadership of first-year head coach Kim Caldwell.
“We welcome Lazaria to the Lady Vol program and are excited about the height and athleticism she brings to our team,” Caldwell said. “It’s not easy to find someone with her combination of length and ability to play in transition. She really clicked with our team and is fun to be around. I can’t wait to have her on the court with us.”
The No. 30 overall prep player and sixth-ranked forward in the 2022 espnW 100, Spearman averaged 6.3 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds over 18.6 minutes per game last season as a sophomore for the Hurricanes, hitting 50 percent from the field while starting 10 of 30 games played. She scored in double figures eight times and posted 10 or more rebounds on four occasions. She finished with four double-doubles, including two in her last three games of the season.
Spearman scored in double figures in three of her first four games in 2023-24, carding a double-double of 11 points and a career-best 15 rebounds at Mississippi State on Nov. 29. She registered her scoring season high twice, pocketing 14 vs. both Alabama State and Clemson. In games 28 and 29, she tallied 12 points vs. Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and yanked down 12 and 10 boards, respectively, vs. those teams.
As a freshman at UM, Spearman appeared in 30 contests, scoring in double figures five times and averaging 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds while playing 13.0 minutes per game in 2022-23. She finished second on the team in blocks (12) and field goal percentage at 51.2 percent (min. 100 attempts), leading ACC freshmen in the latter category. She also ranked fifth among league rookies in rebounds per game and eighth in points per game.
All told, Spearman played in 60 contests for the Canes, putting up 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per outing while shooting 50.5 percent from the field. She helped Miami to a 41-25 overall record during that time, with her squad advancing to the 2023 NCAA Elite Eight before eventual champion LSU ended that run, 54-42.
During her prep career, Spearman left Dacula as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 20.9 ppg. and 12.0 rpg. as a senior en route to 2022 Gwinnett Daily Post Region 8-AAAAAA Player of the Year accolades. The number-two ranked player in Georgia that year, Spearman also was rated No. 26 nationally by ASGR and earned all-state and all-metro honors as well as a spot on the Naismith Trophy High School Underclassmen Girls Watch List.
