Five LVFLs On Rosters As WNBA Opening Day Nears

The WNBA tips off its 29th year on Friday night, and there are five former Lady Vols on active rosters around the league and another whose contract is suspended while she recovers from injury.
 
LVFLs currently listed on WNBA rosters around the country include Rae Burrell (Los Angeles Sparks), Diamond DeShields (Connecticut Sun), Isabelle Harrison (New York Liberty), Rickea Jackson (Los Angeles Sparks) and Mercedes Russell (Los Angeles Sparks).
 
Jordan Horston (Seattle Storm) will miss the 2025 campaign after suffering an ACL tear during the offseason while playing with Athletes Unlimited. Players who endure injuries while competing outside the WNBA can be placed on the suspended list if a physician determines she will be sidelined beyond the first six weeks of the season, removing the salary from the team’s cap and roster limits. Horston will resume her contract for the 2026 season.
 
All-time, 53 Lady Vols have moved on to the WNBA. A total of 46 of those Tennessee products were taken in league drafts, including 21 first-rounders and three No. 1 overall selections.
 
Rickea Jackson was the latest to join the group and enjoyed a very impressive first season in the league after being taken No. 4 overall in the first round by the Los Angeles Sparks. The 6-foot-2 forward was named to the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest while starting 35 of 40 games. She shot 45.6 percent from the field and 80.7 percent from the free-throw line, scoring in double figures on 28 occasions.
 
Burrell, now in her fourth year with the Sparks, appeared in 24 games a year ago and started in seven. The 6-1 guard/forward averaged 5.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 36.2 percent from the field and 78.0 percent at the charity stripe. The LVFL got better as the season went on, putting up 7.1 ppg. and 2.4 rpg. after the all-star break, including 8.4 ppg. in August.
 
DeShields gets set for her seventh season in the league and is in year one in Connecticut after playing for Chicago in 2024. The 6-1 guard appeared in 32 games last season, starting 10 and averaging 4.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the Sky over 13.8 minutes per outing. The 2018 draft’s No. 3 overall pick by Chicago returned to action last season after sitting out all of 2023 due to a knee injury.
 
Harrison makes the move from Chicago to New York in 2025 after playing for one year in the Windy City. She averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest for the Sky in 2024, appearing in a career-high 36 games and starting five after missing the entire 2023 campaign due to injury. The 6-3 forward, who was a No. 12 overall pick by Phoenix back in 2015, is entering year eight in the league.
 
Russell embarks on year eight in the WNBA with a new team for the first time, going from Seattle to Los Angeles and joining Burrell and Jackson. The 6-6 center matched her career high with 37 games played in 2024, getting six starts. She averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent from the field over 15.8 minutes per night. That percentage tied as the second best of her professional stint.
 
As action commences, the WNBA will feature a record 44 regular-season games per team. The league also will showcase 13 franchises for the first time since 2008, as the Golden State Valkyries make their debut in 2025.
 
Los Angeles will be the first team with LVFLs on the roster to play in 2025, as the Sparks travel to the Chase Center in San Francisco to take on the Valkyries in their inaugural home opener at 10 p.m. ET on Friday. The game will be broadcast on ION and WNBA League Pass.
 
On Saturday, defending league champion New York plays host to Las Vegas at 1 p.m. ET in Barclays Arena. The action will be available on ABC, ESPN+ and Disney+. Aces team president Nikki (Caldwell) Fargas played her college ball at Tennessee (1990-94) and was a graduate assistant (1998-99) and assistant coach (2002-08) on the late Pat Summitt’s staff before going on to a college head coaching career and eventually an administrative role with Las Vegas.
 
Connecticut plays its first game of the season on Sunday, as the Washington Mystics visit Mohegan Sun Arena at 1 p.m. ET. The contest will be available for streaming on WNBA League Pass and in the D.C. area on Monumental Sports Network.