Jordan Horston drafted into WNBA

By Mark Nagi

For the 45th time in Lady Vols basketball history, one of their players was picked in the WNBA draft. Last week, the Seattle Storm selected Jordan Horston of Tennessee with the ninth pick in the first round.

"Man, surreal. It's a surreal feeling," Horston said. "Just thankful to God. I give all glory to Him. I wouldn't be here without Him. All the hard work that I've put in allowed me to be in this position. Like I said, I'm just grateful for this opportunity."

Horston was named to the All-SEC First Team in 2022 and 2023 and is one of only two players in school history to record 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. And while two of those three categories are purely for offense, Horston believes that she can bring something else to the Storm.

"I can be a lockdown defender," said Horston. "I'm pretty versatile. Can't really put me in a box. I'm going to do whatever it takes. Whatever the team needs I'm going to do it. I work hard. I'm a big guard so I can guard fours, bigger guards, smaller guards... I'm really focusing in on bringing that defensive impact."

In a peculiar twist, for the third year in a row, a Lady Vols was picked 9th in the WNBA draft. In 2021 Rennia Davis was selected by Minnesota while in 2022 Rae Burrell went to Los Angeles.

"Yeah, okay, so I actually talked to Rae a couple weeks before," said Horston. "She was just asking me where my head was and just, you're going to be good. Just be you. Go in there. Work hard. Just the things that a good teammate would say. And then Rennia texted me today just telling me she was proud of me and she was rooting for me. But that just goes to show that the sisterhood is real. We stay in touch. Like I said, I look up to them. They brought me in, and they showed the ropes to me, and hopefully, I was able to do that with somebody else. But like I said, it's a sisterhood, and it means more here at Tennessee."

Seattle isn't unfamiliar territory for Horston. Her final collegiate game was played there, when the Lady Vols were eliminated in the Sweet 16 of this year's NCAA Tournament.

"The city was beautiful. It was amazing," said Horston. "The only thing that I've known about Seattle prior to going for the NCAA Tournament was Grey's Anatomy. I only knew it was a pretty beautiful city. But no, I did not have any clue on where I was going to end up. I'm excited to embark on that new journey."

Horston did have one year of eligibility remaining but made the decision to go pro and not return to Knoxville.

"Yeah, I mean, either way it went, I feel like it was going to be a good situation," said Horston. "It was two really good situations. That's why it made it even harder for me to decide. But to go back on everything that I've worked for is for this moment. I've always had aspirations and dreams of playing in the W. I've watched it growing up. I feel like this is my time. God was giving me this opportunity, and I feel like I had to jump on it. I'm honestly so happy that I made this decision. I'm a strong believer in everything happens for a reason, and this was meant to happen."

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