Lady Vols sign two Top 35 prospects

Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell has confirmed that a pair of highly-regarded high school standouts from the class of 2027 have signed Institutional Financial Aid Agreements to attend the University of Tennessee and represent the Lady Vol basketball program.

UT is one of just eight programs at this time to have a recruiting class featuring two players ranked among the top 35 in the SportsCenter NEXT 100.

Making it official by submitting their paperwork on Wednesday were 5-foot-8 point guard Amaya Manuel (uh-MY-uh  man-u-WELL) of St. Louis, Mo., and 6-foot-1 wing Maci Pringle (MAY-see PRING-gull) of Flower Mound, Texas.

Manuel, the No. 1-rated player in Missouri, is ranked No. 27 nationally in the class of 2027 in the SportsCenter NEXT 100 and No. 35 by On3.

Pringle, the No. 3-ranked player in Texas, is rated No. 33 nationally in the SportsCenter NEXT 100 and No. 21 by On3.  

"Signing Maci and Amaya together in the 2027 class is big for us," Tennessee Caldwell said. "We worked extremely hard to identify the right fit as players and people for our program, and I believe we nailed it with these two future Lady Vols.

"We take pride in developing our players here, and both Maci and Amaya want to work and get better. They both understand how hard it will be and what it means to be a Lady Vol, and that is extremely important to us. They both fit in so well with our team already, and I'm excited to coach them."

Manuel plays at Lift For Life Academy and is returning to action after missing last season due to injury. She is a three-time state champion and two-time Missouri state player of the year who averaged 16.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 3.4 spg. and 3.2 apg. as a sophomore. She shot 56.1 percent from the field, including 46.9 percent on three-pointers during that 2024-25 campaign, also earning St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Top 5 and St. Louis American Fab 5 All-Star acclaim as well as PrepHoops state championship game MVP honors.

Pringle, meanwhile, represents Flower Mound High School and is coming off a season in which she helped that school to its first-ever state championship game appearance. The two-time all-state honoree averaged 21.0 ppg., 10.1 rpg., 3.5 spg. and 3.2 apg. as a junior, setting an FMHS season record with 796 points in 2025-26. In addition to earning all-state acclaim from three organizations a year ago, she was named Dallas Morning News All-Area Player of the Year (2026) and a member of the UIL 6A Division I All-State Tournament Team.

5-8 | Point Guard | St. Louis, Mo. | Lift For Life Academy(Pronunciation: uh-MY-uh  man-u-WELL)Career Highlights

6-1 | Wing | Flower Mound, Texas | Flower Mound H.S.(Pronunciation: MAY-see PRING-gull) Career Highlights