Tennessee star Jordan Horston drafted ninth overall by Seattle Storm in first round of 2023 WNBA Draft

The Tennessee Volunteers women’s basketball program has had a rich history of their top players being selected in the WNBA draft. And that history continued on Monday. The Lady Volunteer’s versatile wing/ guard Jordan Horston was drafted ninth overall by Seattle Storm in the first round of the 2023 WNBA Draft.

Horston enjoyed her entire four-year career in Tennessee. From 2019 to 2023, she appeared in 114 games for the Lady Volunteers, starting 91 times.

Horston, a Columbus, OH, native, was a stat stuffer at Tennessee. Last season was not her best season in the program, but she still put up an impressive stat line. Horston finished the year averaging 15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. The year prior, in 2022, she averaged 16.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and a block per game.

For as impressive as Horston was for Tennessee, there are a few things that she’ll need to work on at the next level. With her high usage level came a high number of turnovers. In 2022, Horston averaged a career-high 4.5 turnovers per game. This past season she was able to dial it down a bit, but the number was still fairly high at three turnovers a game.

Also, Horston will have to work on her shot selection quality and range from beyond the arc. The former Lady Volunteer shot below 30 percent three out of her four years in the program. The lone year in which she did it was her freshman season, where she shot exactly 30 percent from distance. Shot selection-wise, Horston has improved consistently over the past three years. She went from a career low in her sophomore year of 35 percent to a career-high of 43.8 percent last season.

As Horston leaves the Lady Volunteers program, she does so highly decorated. Horston is only one of two players in the Tennessee program’s history to surpass 1000 points, 700 rebounds, and 400 assists in their career. The other individual is another Lady Volunteers legend, Alexis Hornbuckle. She was also named to the SEC all-freshman teams in 2020. But arguably, her most significant awards do not come from her time in the Tennessee program. Horston is also a two-time gold medalist. Those medals came from her time as a member of the United States FIBA Americas U16 Women’s team in 2017 and the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup in 2018.