The Lady Vols basketball’s streak of first-round picks continued on Monday night as Rickea Jackson was selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks.
This is the fourth first-round selection in the WNBA Draft in as many years for Tennessee. Previously, Rennia Davis, Rae Burrell and Jordan Horston were each picked ninth.
Jackson being taken this high is the highest mark since Diamond DeShields went third in 2018. This is the first time in program history a player has been picked in the first round in four-straight seasons.
This now makes 46 draft picks out of the Lady Vols’ program in WNBA history. There were six former Tennessee players in the league last year including DeShields, Burrell, Horston, Candace Parker, Isabelle Harrison and Mercedes Russell.
Jackson is coming off a season where she produced a team-high 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She also dished out 2.3 assists a match while shooting 48.5% from the field and 33.8% on 3-pointers.
She earned three All-SEC selections including a pair on the first team. She also was a three-time SEC All-Tournament selection. After the 2024 campaign, she was an All-American honorable mention, as well.
Jackson finished her career with 2,261 points (17.8 per game) and 773 rebounds (6.1 per game). This was time split between Mississippi State and the Lady Vols. She spent three seasons in Starkville before transferring to join Tennessee.
While in Knoxville, she was a key piece of a team that made an SEC Tournament Championship appearance and run to the Sweet 16 in 2023. In 2024, the Lady Vols fell in the SEC Tournament Semifinals on a buzzer-beater to eventual National Champion South Carolina and couldn’t complete a come-back over NC State who would go on to the Final Four in the Round of 32 in Raleigh.
Jackson joins the Sparks along with Burrell. The pair never played with each other at Tennessee, though.
Los Angeles is coming off a season where it finished 17-23. This was good for ninth in the league made up of 12 teams. This had the Sparks miss the playoffs by a single game.
They also had the second pick of the draft and used it on Cameron Brink from Stanford. With the need of a scoring boost, this duo could be enough to put Los Angeles in position to sneak into the playoffs next year as they continue their rebuild.
