Emily Saunders enters portal..

[sisaq]

I don't blame her. I wish her the best. She's a great person.

 

[Vols2015]

I don’t see any references for this. She hasn’t posted anything either to imply this.

 

[djtee]

Emily Saunders (6-5 JR center, Mullens, WV) has entered her name into the portal, as a grad xfer out of Tennessee WBB

 

[Majors]

Needed to happen to flip the roster. Best of luck to the young lady.

 

[AntiochVol81]

Yes now we have a few spots open to get that backup center we need I think Rennie will be next to transfer love them both but aren’t D1 SEC Caliber players and Kellie knows next year it’s FF or Bust..

 

[mcannon1]

 

[LadyOrange]

Sad to see Emily go. She’s a LVFL and although she didn’t get much time on the court, she contributed in practice to help the team improve. Good luck Em!

 

[Volfaninfl2]

She already graduated? She was going to be a senior this coming year. If this is true, I’m sorry to see her go. I’m sure she helped the team get ready for the games, and I thought she did well when she got to play, and she always cheered her teammates. If she goes to another team, I hope she gets to play a lot more in the games, and she is happy. Thank you, and Good luck, will always cheer for you, Emily!

 

[LadyOrange]

And I hope Emily and her family know that it’s only a few fools out of thousands of Lady Vol fans who continue to insult her. The comments aren’t funny or clever and are meaningless.

 

[SGMVols]

This needed to happen. She just wasn’t an SEC caliber player. Hopefully she can find a decent mid major where she can get minutes and still win.

 

[sisaq]

🙏 🙏 🙏

 

[Orangefog]

Good Luck to you Emily, hope for much success in your future endeavors

 

[GameTime]

Sweet girl....Hope she finds success.

 

[orange beard]

Yes now we have a few spots open to get that backup center we need I think Rennie will be next to transfer love them both but aren’t D1 SEC Caliber players and Kellie knows next year it’s FF or Bust..

YES BOTH ARE LADY VOLS FOR LIFE . Hard to hang when it is all about you but these two are wonderful!

 

[sisaq]

YES BOTH ARE LADY VOLS FOR LIFE . Hard to hang when it is all about you but these two are wonderful!

🙏

 

[creekdipper]

And I hope Emily and her family know that it’s only a few fools out of thousands of Lady Vol fans who continue to insult her. The comments aren’t funny or clever and are meaningless.

Already posted my thoughts in the Transfer Portal thread mainly because I feared a dedicated thread might invite the wrong element, but nice to see positive comments.

Won't copy my other post but will note that Em is a sharp cookie, winning multiple SEC academic honors. It's not eady to graduate in three years while maintaining a full athletic schedule.

Also wanted to reiterate how great Em's family has been throughout her career. Always supportive of the Lady Vols right through this year's tournament and friends with other LV parents. Dad Chris is a military vet; always funny tweets. Wise, godly man. Sister Sarah is part of national championship team.

Thanks, Em, for being a great representative of the university and the program. You fulfilled your childhood dream to become a Lady Vol For Life! Congrats on your degree and best wishes for the rest of your bb career and life afterward. Hope to see you many times at TBA!

 

[Volfan1000]

Needed to happen to flip the roster. Best of luck to the young lady.

Best of luck to her.

Maybe she transfers to West Virginia to be near her family.

 

[Vols2015]

Well she’s a Grad Transfer, so that’s basically telling us she’s already graduated from Tennessee with her 4 year degree. She’ll have a minimum 2 years left to play at another school. Sam Brunelle commented on her post, and there’s some suspicion she may be considering Norte Dame? Who knows.

 

[kell7517]

Best of luck to you young lady. Thank you for wearing the orange. Hate that she couldn’t see more time on the hardwood, for some reason.

 

[VolBall09]

Well she’s a Grad Transfer, so that’s basically telling us she’s already graduated from Tennessee with her 4 year degree. She’ll have a minimum 2 years left to play at another school. Sam Brunelle commented on her post, and there’s some suspicion she may be considering Norte Dame? Who knows.

I would be very shocked to see Em somewhere like ND. Really don’t think she can compete night in and night out at this level. If she could have Kellie would have had her out there. We have seen with Harper that if a kid can play and goes hard they get minutes. The few times we tried Em after Keyen’s injury it was clear that wasn’t going to work. The first half of the Auburn game was evidence enough for me.

Seems she is transferring because she wants to play more. Brunelle is also in the portal out of ND so I doubt she would be trying to recruit someone for them at this point…

I think it’s more likely she ends up somewhere with her sister. Sarah was a freshman at at DII Glenville State who just won a National championship. Could see Em going there or the two of them transferring to a mid-major/DII school together. Her sister did not play this season. Not sure if she was a redshirt or injuries.

 

[Gilmore]

Impressive that she has her degree! She has represented the LV‘s quite well and hope her next stop is everything she wants it to be.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

It's not right in my opinion to publicly criticize or attack a player for a lack of talent. We only have the God-given talent that we have. What we do with it is what measures our character and value to others. It isn't her fault she was born with less athletic talent than most post players in the SEC. It isn't her fault that Holly offered her a scholly at UT. She of course had to take it and try to succeed when given that chance. For whatever reason, it hasn't worked out as everyone had hoped. I'm really hoping that she wasn't asked to leave (doubt she was, that isn't Kellie's MO, I think), but that she chose on her own to seek a place where she can play more and enjoy the game more. I'm glad she was a LV, she represented us well. Happy Trails to her.

 

[VolBall09]

West Virginia just hired coach Dawn Plitzuweit, the South Dakota head coach. Dawn seems like a great coach and looks fun to play for. Her teams are super tough.

Emily would be a great pickup for her. Dawn coaches an old fashioned style of basketball that really works well. I think it would be a great fit for Emily. The Big 12 is not as fast as the SEC and the system Plitzuweit runs is geared a lot slower. They run a really good half court offense and play lockdown half court defense. Not as much transition game as Kellie runs.

If there is mutual interest I could see that being an awesome setup for Emily to go home. Super hire by West Virginia IMO. Have been watching South Dakota for 4-5 years and they have been extremely well coached and competitive.

 

[ETCvol4life]

Wish her all the best and hope she goes somewhere she can get the playing time she wants. I always thought she was a very good player just got on a team with some really good players at her position.

 

[Darth_Vol]

Time for an upgrade...