Tennessee signee Jordan Horston wins McDonald's All American MVP after learning of coach's firing
Jordan Horston drew attention Wednesday night not only for what she did on the court at the McDonald’s All-American Game but also the decision she may make relatively soon.
Horston was named MVP in the East team’s 83-68 victory over the West. The 6-foot-2 guard had 14 points, four rebounds, three steals and an assist in 22 minutes on the court.
It was shortly beforehand she learned while on the bench that Tennessee, the school with which she signed a letter of intent, fired seventh-year head coach Holly Warlick that afternoon.
On a really sad day for the program, some potentially good news for the Lady Vols — the nation’s No. 2 overall player (and UT signee) Jordan Horston won McDonald’s All American MVP. Now she’ll decide if she still wants Rocky Top to be home. pic.twitter.com/H7cV0XFkOg
— Marc Whiteman (@MarcWhiteman) March 28, 2019
Horston can’t opt out of LOI
Horston announced in October her intent to sign with Tennessee over six other schools, including UConn, Louisville and South Carolina, per SNY. She’s the second-ranked prospect in the class of 2019 in the espnW’s HoopGurlz rankings.
The Columbus (Ohio) Africentric Early College High School senior was one of three players to sign their letters of intent on the first day of the November signing period. She’ll now have to decide if she wants to stay with Tennessee despite the coaching change.
"I love Tennessee, and I love Holly," Horston said after the All American game, per USA Today High School Sports. "I guess I'll have to sleep on this whole situation. I really don't want to talk about it."
Horston can’t just decide to leave. Her letter of intent paperwork already went to Tennessee, per the school’s November release on signings, so she is a future Lady Vol even given the coaching change.
If the top guard in the country decides she doesn’t want to play for Tennessee, she can file a release request. The NCAA has 30 days to give a decision and while most are granted, it’s not a guarantee. And the NCAA would have to lift the recruiting ban for her to be in communications with other programs.
Considering other programs
Horston is one of only two top-100 ranked Tennessee recruits. She was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award, was named Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year and led her high school team to its second consecutive title in 2019.
She averaged 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.8 steals per game as a senior.
Fellow five-star Tamari Key out of Cary High School in North Carolina signed early with the Lady Vols as well. She’s ranked No. 46 by espnW Hoop Gurlz.
Horston chose Tennessee over UConn and also considered top-tier programs Louisville and fellow SEC powerhouse South Carolina, plus Ohio State and North Carolina. Losing Horston to any of those programs would hurt Tennessee as it tries to close the drop it’s made since Pat Summitt was forced into early retirement. Albeit, any slight drop-off for the legacy program is small to anyone else but huge to the Lady Vols.
Horston was the only Tennessee recruit to play in the All-American game. Teammate Aubrey Griffin out of Ossining Senior in New York is committed to UConn as the only top-100 ranked player for the Huskies.
Three East teammates are going to South Carolina. The Gamecocks have four of the top 13 ranked players in the 2019 class.
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