KNOXVILLE – The offseason hits keep coming for the Tennessee women’s basketball program.
Coach Holly Warlick announced Friday that Diamond DeShields “has opted to forgo” her senior season with the Lady Volunteers – the latest blow in what has become an offseason of attrition.
DeShields, the team’s leading scorer in 2016-17, had announced in an early-April Instagram post that she would return to Tennessee despite graduating. She expressed a desire to play with and mentor a talented class of four incoming freshmen.
At the time, it appeared the Lady Vols would have a full group of 13 scholarship players, including a veteran core and a promising group of young talent, for the season ahead.
Then rising senior guard Alexa Middleton left the team in late April, rising junior Te’a Cooper transferred to national champion South Carolina earlier this month and assistant coach Jolette Law joined the Gamecocks’ staff last week.