KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Lou Brown, a graduate transfer from Washington State, has signed an SEC Grant-In-Aid with Tennessee and will be eligible to play during the 2018-19 season, Lady Vol head basketball coach Holly Warlick announced on Thursday.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, the 6-foot-3 forward started 71 of 95 career games for the Cougars. She averaged 5.6 points and 5.6 rebounds while knocking down 80 three-pointers during her time in Pullman. She will graduate from WSU in May with a degree in sport management after twice earning Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention distinction and will have one season to play at UT.
Brown becomes the second international player to don a Lady Vol uniform, following in the footsteps of rising redshirt senior Cheridene Green, who hails from London, England. She also is the second graduate transfer to join the program. Schaquilla Nunn, who came from Winthrop and averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds for UT in 2016-17, was the first.
“We are very pleased to welcome a multi-dimensional player like Lou to our program,” Warlick said. “At 6-3, she has great size, can stretch the floor with her shooting range, can shoot over the top of defenders, gets on the glass, runs the floor and plays well without the ball.
“She brings great experience, not only from the college ranks but also from playing internationally with Australia. Adding a veteran player of her caliber to our front court and a 12th player to our roster will not only provide us more depth, it should also lead to more competitiveness. We are very excited to add all of our newcomers to our group of returning players and continue our preparations for the 2018-19 season.”
As a junior in 2016-17, Brown notched career highs of 16 points vs. Nebraska and 16 rebounds vs. Oklahoma State en route to averaging 10.4 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds. Her season ended prematurely after seven games, however, due to a foot injury suffered during that OSU game.
She returned to the court in 2017-18 as a redshirt junior, starting 23 of 28 contests and averaging 6.4 points and 6.0 rebounds for WSU. She was the team’s leading rebounder and fifth-leading point-producer, scoring in double figures nine times and tallying six games with double digits in rebounds. She had four double-doubles to lead the squad.
Brown connected on a single-season career-most 29 threes in 87 attempts (.333) last year. She tallied her most field goals and attempts, hitting 62 of 171 (.363), and shot a team-best 78.1 percent from the free throw line (25-32). She also posted a career high for assists in a season with 49.
She didn’t waste any time contributing during her first two seasons at WSU, either. Brown played in all 32 games as a freshman, starting the final 16, while averaging 3.9 points and 6.5 rebounds, the second-highest ever by a Cougar rookie. She blocked 29 shots, third-most by a freshman at the school. As a sophomore, she started 25 of 28 contests, tallying 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per outing.
Brown has experience in international play, as well, helping Australia to fifth place at the FIBA U17 World Championships in 2012 and to a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championships in 2013.
The addition of Brown, who was prospectnation.com‘s No. 2-ranked international player coming out of high school, gives Tennessee an influx of five new players and brings the roster count to 12. The latter number ties for the highest total of active players UT has had during the Warlick era (2014-15 and 2015-16). Her arrival will provide an experienced rebounder and offensive option on the inside as well as a highly-capable threat at mid-range and beyond the arc.
Brown joins a 2018 signing class ranked No. 4 by ProspectsNation.com and No. 6 by HoopGurlz/espnW. That group includes Zarielle Green (6-0 guard from Duncanville, Texas), who is ranked No. 10 by ESPN and No. 26 by ProspectsNation; Jazmine Massengill (6-0 point guard from Chattanooga), who is ranked No. 11 by ProspectsNation and No. 25 by ESPN; Amira “Mimi” Collins (6-3 forward from Waldorf, Md.), who is ranked No. 9 by ProspectsNation and No. 49 by ESPN; and Rae Burrell (6-1 wing from Henderson, Nev.), who is rated No. 43 by ESPN and No. 119 by ProspectsNation.
Green, Massengill and Collins were McDonald’s and Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans, and Collins was a top-five finalist for Naismith Girls’ High School Player of the Year.
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