Lady Vols Add Size, Range In Forward Riley Makalusky

Riley Makalusky (pronounced mack-uh-LESS-key), who has hit just short of 40 percent from beyond the arc for her career in stints at Butler and West Virginia, became the 13th transfer to sign an Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA) with Tennessee, Lady Vol head coach Kim Caldwell confirmed on Friday.

A 6-foot-2 forward from Fishers, Indiana, Makalusky has played in 98 games over three seasons, earning 38 starts, and will have one season of eligibility remaining. She has compiled career averages of 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds and has shot 39.4 percent from beyond the arc and 80.6 percent at the free-throw line.

Makalusky joins previously-announced transfer portal signees in 5-6 guard Shaelyn Steele (Penn State), 5-7 guards Jada Eads (Seton Hall) and Kennedy Fauntleroy (East Carolina), 5-9 guards Avery Mills (Liberty), Naomi White (Northern Arizona) and Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia), 5-10 guard Harissoum Coulibaly (Auburn), 6-0 guard Kaylene Smikle (Maryland), 6-1 forward Aaliyah Moore (Texas), 6-2 forwards Zhen Craft (Georgia) and Fatmata "Fats" Janneh (Texas A&M), and 6-3 forward Harper Peterson (Stanford) in Tennessee's 2026 transfer portal class.

In the 2026 portal recruiting rankings, Smikle is ranked No. 8 by The Athletic, No. 13 by HoopsHQ and No. 14 by espnW, while Janneh is rated No. 16 by HoopsHQ.

UT also has two incoming freshmen, including 6-1 guard/forward Gabby Minus (Dacula, Ga./Hebron Christian Academy), the No. 64-ranked player in the 2026 SportsCenter NEXT 100 class, and 5-10 guard Irene Oboavwoduo (Manchester, England/Trinity Church of England H.S.), who has a bevy of international experience with several Great Britain national teams. The Big Orange will head into the 2026-27 campaign with a roster of 15 players, matching the total from Caldwell's first edition in 2024-25.

In her lone season at WVU in 2025-26, Makalusky connected at 43.2 percent from deep, draining 35 of 81 attempts. She also knocked down 21 of 26 tries from the charity stripe, hitting above 80 percent (80.8) for the second straight season. She appeared in 35 games for the Mountaineers, averaging 14.8 minutes, 4.7 points and 2.0 rebounds. She scored in double figures four times including a 20-point effort vs. Big 12 foe UCF in which she was seven of 10 from the field, including 3-of-4 accuracy from three-point range. She also had a 5-of-6 day beyond the arc vs. Houston en route to 15 points.

In 2024-25, during her second season at Butler, Makalusky started 23 of 32 games and averaged career highs of 8.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 24.5 minutes per outing. She notched a career-best and team-leading 82.4 percent from the free-throw line and knocked down 27 treys at a 30.3-percent rate. The sophomore carded 13 contests scoring in double figures, including a season-best 16 points vs. Georgetown when she nailed four of five attempts from three-point land.

Makalusky's freshman season at Butler in 2023-24 saw her make 31 appearances with 14 starts and earn a spot on the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. She averaged 6.7 points and 2.2 rebounds over 20.8 minutes per contest while shooting 43.6 percent from the field, a conference-leading 46.1 percent beyond the arc and 76.7 percent from the charity stripe. She scored in double figures 10 times, including in eight of the final 11 games. Makalusky recorded a season-high 23 points vs. Roosevelt, going 7-for-8 from three-point range in that contest.

In high school, Makalusky was a four-year starter at Hamilton Southeastern, scoring more than 1,000 points and being named all-state, all-conference and a 2023 Indiana All-Star. She was ranked by Prep Girls Hoops as the No. 7 overall prospect in the state of Indiana and No. 2 at small forward.

2026-27 Lady Vol Roster Additions (Signees)

Incoming Transfers
Harissoum Coulibaly (5-10, SO, G, Paris, France/S3 Academy (Va.)/Auburn)
Zhen Craft (6-2, SO, F, Waldorf, Md./Bishop McNamara H.S./Georgia)
Jada Eads (5-7, G, JR, Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep H.S./Seton Hall)
Kennedy Fauntleroy (5-7, G, R-SR, Upper Marlboro, Md./New Hope Academy/Georgetown/Okla. St./Ariz. St./ECU)
Fatmata "Fats" Janneh (6-2, SR, F, London, England/Barking Abbey Sixth Form/St. Peter's/Texas A&M)
Riley Makalusky (6-2, F, SR, Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern H.S./Butler/West Virginia)
Avery Mills (5-9, JR, G, Lynchburg, Va./Lynchburg H.S./Liberty)
Aaliyah Moore (6-1, F, R-SR, Moore, Okla./Moore H.S./Texas)
Harper Peterson (6-3, R-SO, F, Rocklin, Calif./Whitney H.S./Stanford)
Kaylene Smikle (6-0, G, R-SR, Bay Shore, N.Y. /Westtown H.S./Rutgers/Maryland)
Shaelyn Steele (5-6, G, JR, Ashland, Ky./Russell H.S./Penn State)
Rylie Theuerkauf (5-9, SR, G, Tenafly, N.J./Tenafly H.S./Wake Forest/Georgia)
Naomi White (5-9, R-SO, G, Omaha, Neb./Bellevue West H.S./Grand Canyon/Northern Arizona)

Incoming Freshmen
Gabby Minus (6-1, FR, G/F, Dacula, Ga./Hebron Christian Academy)
Irene Oboavwoduo (5-10, FR, G, Manchester, England/Trinity Church of England H.S.)

University of Tennessee Athletics

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