Shaelyn Steele (pronounced SHAY-lin), a guard with two years of experience playing in the Big Ten, became the ninth player out of the portal to sign an Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA), Lady Vol head coach Kim Caldwell confirmed.
A 5-foot-6 product of Ashland, Ky., Steele spent the past two seasons at Penn State after coming out of Russell High School as the highest ranked recruit in the state of Kentucky in 2024. She played in 46 games for the Nittany Lions, earning eight starts and averaging 1.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and nearly an assist and steal over an average of 9.5 minutes per contest.
Steele joins previously-announced transfer portal signees in 5-7 guard Jada Eads (Seton Hall), 5-9 guards Avery Mills (Liberty), Naomi White (Northern Arizona) and Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia), 6-0 guard Kaylene Smikle (Maryland), 6-2 forwards Zhen Craft (Georgia) and Fatmata "Fats" Janneh (Texas A&M), and 6-3 forward Harper Peterson (Stanford) in Tennessee's 2026 transfer portal class.
UT also has two incoming freshmen, including 6-1 guard/forward Gabby Minus (Dacula, Ga./Hebron Christian Academy), the No. 64-ranked player in the 2026 SportsCenter NEXT 100 class, and 5-10 guard Irene Oboavwoduo (Manchester, England/Trinity Church of England H.S.), who has a bevy of international experience with several Great Britain national teams.
Last season, Steele appeared in 27 contests, started eight times and averaged 12.1 minutes per outing. She tallied 1.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game and had six outings with three or more assists, including four vs. Washington, Princeton and Coppin State. She also scored a career-high 10 points vs. Coppin on 4-of-5 shooting and notched seven games with five or more rebounds, including eight vs. Washington.
As a freshman, she appeared in 19 games, contributing 1.2 points and 0.8 rebounds while playing 5.9 minutes per contest. She went three of seven beyond the arc for 42.9 percent and scored in eight contests, including four points vs. Minnesota and Rutgers. She pulled down a season-best four boards vs. Illinois and had five steals vs. Marshall.
In high school, she played for the Russell varsity for six years, averaging 21.1 points and 6.2 rebounds as a senior. She scored more than 3,000 career points, pulled down over 1,000 rebounds, handed out more than 700 assists and recorded 300 steals over 120 games.
She was named the 2021 Daily Independent Player of the Year, the 2021 16th Region Tournament MVP, the 2023 EKC Offensive Player of the Year and was a 2022-23 Kentucky/Indiana Junior All-Star and a first-team all-state selection.