NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following its deepest national postseason run in program history, the Belmont University women's basketball program has signed University of Tennessee transfer guard Avery "Ace" Strickland. Announced by head coach
Bart Brooks Thursday, Strickland will have one season of eligibility after spending the last two years in Knoxville and her freshman season at the University of Pittsburgh.
"Avery is a player we have been recruiting since she was a freshman in high school and I have always wanted to coach her at Belmont," spoke coach Brooks. "I'm very excited to have such a versatile player who can score from anywhere on the court, and her game is a great fit for our style of play. Our fans will absolutely fall in love with Avery as she is an amazing young lady and a great teammate. She will be a fantastic representative of our program and university."
Strickland will arrive in the Music City with plenty of experience playing in two of the top conferences in college basketball, the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference. In her freshman year at Pitt, Strickland started in 11 games and averaged 6.2 points with a team-best 39 made three-pointers. The 5-foot-10 guard played in 39 games for the Lady Volunteers over the last two seasons, including seeing action in all three of Tennessee's NCAA Tournament outings this past March.
As a true freshman, Strickland scored in double figures four times and had a pair of 17-point performances, including in a road win at Georgia Tech. This past December as a Lady Vol, Strickland hit a trio of threes in a non-conference home victory.
A Knoxville native, Strickland was a member of the 2023-24 SEC Academic Honor Roll and was named to the 2022-23 All-ACC Academic Team.
Starring at Farragut High School, Strickland was a heralded national recruit as the No. 101 ranked overall player by
All-Star Girls Report in the 2022 class. While leading the Lady Admirals to Farragut's first state championship game, Strickland closed out her senior year averaging 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She shot 48 percent from the floor and garnered Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) All-State honors. In the state semifinals, Strickland willed the Lady Admirals to victory with a 31-point, nine-rebound showing en route to claiming a spot on the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) All-State Tournament Team.
From an athletic family with both of her brothers playing collegiate baseball, Strickland also earned all-state honors in softball and track and field during her prep career.
Strickland will graduate in August with her bachelor's degree in sport management.
Avery will join the
Bruins' freshmen class of guard Rylie Beers (Littleton, Colorado), guard Kate McGinnis (Kimberly, Wisconsin), forward Dacarra Ward (Memphis, Tennessee), forward Leah West (Greensburg, Indiana) and guard Tatum Woodson (Minnetonka, Minnesota).
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