Lady Vols Sign Prominent Defender Spencer
Head coach of Tennessee women’s basketball Kim Caldwell revealed on Monday that transfer Samara Spencer, the 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year, has awarded her an SEC Grant-in-Aid (GIA) and an Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA).
The 5-foot-7 guard is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and an alumni of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. During the previous three seasons at Arkansas, he started 97 of 101 games. Spencer will compete in the 2024–25 season as a senior. Her departure from the Lady Vols under Caldwell via the transfer portal puts her in third place, behind 6-2 forward Alyssa Latham (Syracuse) and 6-4 forward Lazaria Spearman (Miami).
“We are very pleased that Samara has chosen to join the Lady Vol family,” added Caldwell. Her amount of Southeastern Conference playing experience, in addition to her skills on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, should be a huge asset to our program. We are excited to see the difference she can make and are happy to have her on our team.”
Spencer scored 1,368 career points in her three seasons as a player for the Razorbacks. She also finished with 406 rebounds, 365 assists, 149 three-pointers, and 120 steals. She was 10th all-time in assists and 16th on the Arkansas career scoring list. Her statistics while she was in Fayetteville were 13.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, and 1.2 spg.
Over the last two seasons, Spencer has led UA in assists, and as a freshman, he ranked third in points per game. She was among the team’s top four scorers in each campaign for three-pointers made, including second in 2021–22 and third in 2022–23. She was second in the Razorbacks’ thefts in 2023–24 and third in her first two seasons.
Spencer produced 73 games with double-digit scoring totals in all. During her time in college, she recorded 17 efforts of 20 points or more and three double-doubles.
In 2023–24, Spencer started in all 33 games. He averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Additionally, he led the Razorbacks in assists (115), made free throws (128), attempted free throws (173), and free throw percentage (.740). She has 26 games with ten or more points scored, nine with five or more assists, six with twenty or more points, and one with thirty points. The latter was a 31-point, 14-rebound effort on January 14 against Alabama.
Spencer tied a school record as a sophomore by starting all 37 games and scoring 14.4 points, 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. She was second on the team in scoring and led Arkansas in assists (154), minutes per game (33.9), and field goal attempts per game (12.4). She appeared on multiple season top-10 lists, ranking seventh overall in assists.
During his rookie season in 2021–2022, Spencer averaged 12.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while making 27 starts in 31 games. He was also selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She scored in 20 games with double figures, including three with 20 points or more, and set career highs of 42.5 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three. Throughout the season, her efforts earned her four SEC Player of the Week awards.
When Spencer signed, Blue Star ranked her as the 72nd best overall high school recruit. After leading St. Thomas Aquinas to a state championship in her senior year, she was awarded Broward County’s 7A-6A Player of the Year in 2021 and also made the All-Broward County First Team. As the sixth woman in that program before coming to Aquinas, she also led the Raiders to the state championship game in her sophomore year and assisted in leading Fort Myers to a state Championship in her rookie year.
Leave a Reply