KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell announced Monday that she has received an SEC Grant-in-Aid (GIA) and Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA) from transfer Ruby Whitehorn.
The 5-foot-11 guard, who started 62 of 66 games over the past two seasons at Clemson, is a native of Detroit, Mich., and a product of Detroit Edison Public School Academy, the same program as UT’s 2024 WNBA First Round Draft pick, Rickea Jackson. Whitehorn will be a junior during the 2024-25 campaign and is the fourth player to sign out of the transfer portal with the Lady Vols under the leadership of first-year head coach Kim Caldwell, following 6-2 forward Alyssa Latham (Syracuse), 6-4 forward Lazaria Spearman (Miami) and 5-7 guard Samara Spencer (Arkansas).
“I’m really excited about what Ruby will bring to the program,” Caldwell said. “She is one of the best downhill scorers I’ve had the opportunity to see, and her athleticism will help us greatly on the defensive end. She is a natural fit for our program, and I can’t wait for her to get on campus and see what she can do in our system.”
Whitehorn, the No. 15-ranked prospect in the 2022 espnW 100 coming out of high school, is the third top-30 member of that class set to make her Big Orange debut this fall. She will join No. 30 Spearman and No. 18 Talaysia Cooper, a 6-0 guard who transferred from South Carolina last spring and redshirted during the 2023-24 campaign.
At Clemson last season, Whitehorn started 29 of 31 contests, scoring in double figures 21 times and carding a pair of double-doubles. The sophomore ranked third on the team in scoring (12.3 ppg.) and tied for second in rebounding (5.6 rpg.), both career highs. She also was second in assists (51), steals (45) and blocks (14) and fourth in three-pointers made (25) while shooting career highs of 46.4 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from the free throw line.
Whitehorn scored 20 or more points on two occasions, including a 20-point effort vs. Mississippi State on Nov. 24 and a season-best 26-point showing in the season finale vs. Boston College, in which she connected on 12 of 16 shots from the field. On the glass, Whitehorn was a force down the stretch, pulling down eight or more boards in seven of her last 11 games, including 10 at Notre Dame on Feb. 22 and a career-high 14 at Florida State on March 3 in the last regular-season contest.
In 2022-23, Whitehorn was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman Team after starting 33 of 35 games and producing 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. Clemson’s first-ever McDonald’s High School All-American and its highest-ranked signee in program history, she fired in a career-best 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting in her seventh college appearance en route to Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team honors. She wound up scoring 10 or more points on 17 occasions as a rookie and added another 20+ effort when she dropped 21 on Charlotte on Dec. 8.
Over her two seasons at Clemson, Whitehorn averaged 10.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. She connected on 44.2 percent of her shots from the field and 66.7 percent of her attempts from the charity stripe, helping the Tigers to the WNIT Sweet 16 during her first season there.
In addition to her previously-mention prep accolades, Whitehorn was the No. 2-ranked guard by espnW in 2022 and the top-ranked player in Michigan. The two-time state champion was named Michigan’s Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Basketball as a senior as well as a Jordan Brand All-American.
