Lady Vols guard Naomi White shows she’s more than a shooter

Naomi White told me last week she’s been working on not being a one-dimensional player. After one exhibition, she’s already backed that up.

White came to Tennessee with a shooter’s reputation, and if you look at her numbers from Northern Arizona, that reputation was rightfully earned. She set NAU’s single-season records for points (667) and 3-pointers (92) on her way to Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

She let it fly in Tuesday’s 132-63 exhibition win over Florida A&M, hitting a 3-pointer 19 seconds in for the first points of the night. For anyone who thought her game was just scoring, White proved them wrong. She finished with 16 points, a team-high seven assists, six rebounds and four steals in 20 minutes. Just as impressive, she didn’t turn it over once.

KNOXVILLE, TN - October 27, 2026 - Guard Naomi White #25 of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers during the exhibition game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN. | Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

When head coach Kim Caldwell was asked postgame if she expected that many assists, she started with one word and a laugh.

“Nope,” Caldwell said. “I knew she was going to let it fly. No, she is such a great player, and she is a little bit of a gamer too. As a coaching staff, we were talking about her before the game, and I think we’ll see a little bit of a different spark. She always plays hard. She’s in the gym as much as, if not more than, anyone.

“So she deserved to have a great stat line. She always deserves to have a great stat line. I was proud of her assist numbers, and I think she was proud of her assist numbers.”

White went 4 of 9 from deep on a night the rest of the roster went 7 of 32, so the green light is there. But a shooter who makes the right read when the defense runs her off the line is a much tougher cover, and Caldwell’s offense has great success on that extra pass. Tennessee had 26 assists on 49 made baskets, and White had a hand in plenty of that.

The defense is where her growth will be welcomed as much as anything. In September, White was upfront that learning Caldwell’s press had been a struggle at first. Tuesday, she was part of a defense that forced 37 turnovers. One of her steals came in the middle of a 21-0 first-quarter run, and she followed it by dishing to Gabby Minus for a quick layup.

Florida A&M women’s basketball coach and Lady Vols legend Bridgette Gordon meets with the Lady Vols after a women’s college basketball exhibition game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Florida A&M Rattlers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Oct. 27, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

FAMU head coach Bridgette Gordon noticed all of it. She said White was the one her staff knew would be tough to match up with, and she spent the night trying to rattle her.

“I tried to get into your head and you allowed me to, and I did that to show you that’s what people are going to do to you,” Gordon said of what she told White after the game. “That’s what they do to the greats. But you’ve got to stay even keel.”

Coming from a Lady Vols great whose jersey banner hangs in the rafters, that message carries major weight. SEC defenses will key on White the same way, and they’ll have more size and length to do it with.

Duquesne is next on Monday for the season opener, and Tennessee will be expected to win big again. What I’ll be watching is how White builds off her exhibition performance. The more solid nights she stacks, the more comfort and confidence she’ll build, and that can only mean good things when the competition gets tougher down the road.

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