Lauren Hurst commits to Virginia Tech out of transfer portal, joining Alyssa Latham

Former Lady Vols basketball guard Lauren Hurst committed to Virginia Tech out of the transfer portal on April 11, making her the second Tennessee player to join the Hokies.

Former Tennessee forward Alyssa Latham committed to Virginia Tech as a graduate transfer on April 1.

Latham and Hurst were part of the mass exodus from the Lady Vols that left no returners on the team. All eight players with eligibility left entered the transfer portal, and five-star forward Oliviyah Edwards was released from her signing, leaving four-star wing Gabby Minus as the only incoming freshman.

Both Latham and Hurst were key players in Tennessee’s rotation by the end of the season. Latham spent two years with the Lady Vols after transferring in from Syracuse and was one of a handful of returners from coach Kim Caldwell’s first season.

Latham was one of four forwards on Tennessee’s roster – the other three graduated – and averaged 19.1 minutes this season. The 6-foot-2 junior averaged 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and one steal while shooting 53.9% from the field this season.

Hurst broke into the rotation in the second half of the season, and she was Tennessee’s most accurate 3-point shooter. The 6-foot-3 guard led the team in 3-point percentage, hitting 41.4% on 1.2 attempts from 3-point range.

The Cleveland, Tennessee, native averaged 2.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 10 minutes per game on the season, and she shot 48.8% from the field. Hurst played a season-high 24 minutes at Ole Miss, when she scored a career-high 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers.

Hurst was part of a five-player 2025 class ranked No. 2 in the nation by ESPN, UT’s highest-ranked class since 2017. She was a four-star prospect ranked No. 45 in the class.

Tennessee has added two transfers out of the portal so far. Liberty guard Avery Mills and Northern Arizona guard Naomi White both committed to the Lady Vols.

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe