Chattanooga just felt "like home" to Arianne Whitaker when she came to visit.
So she decided to make it that for the next few school years.
The 6-foot-2 basketball player from Ohio recently decided to transfer from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., where she spent her freshman season, and chose the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She will have three seasons of eligibility with the Mocs, starting in the 2017-18 season.
Her addition should offset the loss of Jasmine Joyner, who will be a senior in 2016-17.
Whitaker averaged 7.9 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds and blocked 56 shots in her lone season with the Lady Eagles, playing in 23 games and starting 19.
She had 19 rebounds in her last Winthrop game but said she chose to transfer because the "women's basketball team wasn't a good fit for me."
"I love the game," she said Thursday. "I love being out on the court, whether we're practicing or playing. I feel I can get so much better with a year off because that's my main focus. The main thing is to get better so I can make the team better and we can have a strong season."
She was a three-time Big South Conference freshman of the week - the most of anyone in the league - and was named to the Big South all-freshman team.
At Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, she was ranked as the No. 19 power forward prospect in the class of 2015 and helped her team win its first Ohio High School Association Division I championship.
"I love the idea of having a player of this potential at practice every day," UTC coach Jim Foster said in a release. "It allows us to challenge our post players to get better as she works to improve her game in the next year."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.