Lady Vols Basketball Forward Projected as a Top 10 WNBA Draft Pick by ESPN

Lady Vols basketball forward Janiah Barker at practice on Sept. 23, 2025. (Photo via Ryan Sylvia | RTI)

We’re right around the corner from Lady Vols basketball returning to the floor for year two under Kim Caldwell. Despite a strong first season in Knoxville, Caldwell’s Tennessee team did not produce any WNBA draft picks. That could change this year, though. According to ESPN, transfer forward Janiah Barker is projected to go in the first round.

Barker is slotted in ESPN’s mock draft as the No. 10 pick in the draft. There are 13 picks in the first round. This would send her to the Indiana Fever, where she’d team up with the likes of recent college superstars and WNBA All-Stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.

“After two seasons at Texas A&M and one at UCLA, Barker will finish her college career at Tennessee,” ESPN’s Michael Voepel wrote. “She has averaged 10.3 PPG and 6.4 RPG over three collegiate seasons and has a skill set with good size that interests WNBA evaluators. She will need to adjust to coach Kim Caldwell’s fast pace, but already spent two seasons in the SEC and is prepared for the league’s style of play.”

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Barker joins Tennessee for her senior season. She spent two years at Texas A&M before transferring to UCLA, where she was one of the best sixth players in the country off the bench.

After the year with the Bruins, in which she averaged 7.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on 46.5% shooting from the field, she entered the portal and was recruited by most big programs across the country. She ultimately picked Caldwell and the Lady Vols.

“Just the freeness of it,” Barker said at SEC Media Days on the SEC Network. “There’s not really a lot of plays, just a whole bunch of hooping. Just get to your bag, do what you do and feel confident in it. I think that’s the main thing that drew me in and the main thing she told me when I got here, she just wants me to be myself. I’m super excited.”

Tennessee will open the season with a top-10 clash against NC State in Greensboro on Nov. 4. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN2. The Lady Vols are ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll to start the season.