Lady Vols Sign Spearman, the Best Rebounder for the Canes.
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – Head coach of Tennessee women’s basketball Kim Caldwell revealed on Wednesday that transfer Lazaria Spearman (pronounced la-ZAR-ee-uh) has been awarded an SEC Grant-in-Aid (GIA) and an Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA).
The 6-foot-4 forward is a native of Dacula, Georgia, and a graduate of Dacula High School (pronounced duh-CUE-luh). He participated in 60 games during his two seasons at the University of Miami. Spearman is the second player to join with UT under first-year head coach Kim Caldwell. Spearman will be a junior in 2024–25.
“We welcome Lazaria to the Lady Vol program and are excited about the height and athleticism she brings to our team,” said Caldwell. Finding someone with her length and transitional playing abilities is difficult. She is a lot of fun to be around and really resonated with our staff. I am eager for her to join us on the court.”
As a sophomore for the Hurricanes past season, Spearman averaged 6.3 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds over 18.6 minutes per game. He started 10 of the 30 games he participated in and shot 50% from the floor. Spearman is ranked sixth in the 2022 espnW 100 and the No. 30 overall prep athlete. Eight times, she scored in double figures, and four times, she pulled down ten rebounds or more. She had four double-doubles in the end, two of which came in her final three games of the campaign.
In three of her first four games of 2023–24, Spearman scored ten points or more. On November 29, she recorded a double-double at Mississippi State, scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds. Twice, against Alabama State and Clemson, she scored as many points as she had all season. She scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in games 28 and 29 against Georgia Tech and North Carolina, respectively.
Spearman played in thirty games as a freshman for UM in 2022–2023; he averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds while playing 13.0 minutes a night. Spearman scored in double digits five times during that season. She led all ACC freshman in the field goal percentage category, finishing second on the team with 51.2 percent (minimum 100 attempts) and blocks (12). In addition, she had the eighth-best points per game and fifth-best rebounds per game among rookies in the league.
Spearman participated in 60 games with the Canes in all, averaging 5.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 50.5 percent from the field per game. During that time, she contributed to Miami’s 41-25 overall record. Her team advanced to the 2023 NCAA Elite Eight before losing to eventual champion LSU 54-42.
Spearman left Dacula as the school’s all-time top scorer and rebounder throughout her prep career. As a senior, she averaged 20.9 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, which helped her win the 2022 Gwinnett Daily Post Region 8-AAAAAA Player of the Year award. In addition to being ranked No. 26 nationally by ASGR, Spearman finished that season as Georgia’s second-best player and was named to both the all-state and all-metro teams. She was also included on the Naismith Trophy High School Underclassmen Girls Watch List.
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