Eads was just as efficient. She scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, hit two threes and added four assists and three steals with no turnovers in 16 minutes off the bench. Tennessee<\/a> was plus-50 with her on the floor.<\/p>\n Both guards also got a lesson in what being a Lady Vol means. After the game, FAMU coach and Lady Vols great Bridgette Gordon<\/a> stayed on the court to talk with Tennessee\u2019s players, and she had a few extra words for White after spending the night trying to get in her head.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s everything White and Eads said after the exhibition.<\/p>\n Florida A&M women\u2019s basketball coach and Lady Vols legend Bridgette Gordon meets with the Lady Vols after a women\u2019s 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<\/p>\n What did it mean to have Bridgette Gordon stay on the court and talk with you after the game?<\/p>\n Naomi White: \u201cShe was giving very encouraging words, just to be appreciative of each other and that we always will rep the Lady Vols, and to always rep that with pride and respect. She was also just giving us advice on how to be a great team and to make big strides.\u201d<\/p>\n Jada Eads: \u201cFor her to come over and talk to us as a team, I\u2019ve never really had a coach that came over and gave us so much advice and praise and told us how much she\u2019s going to be cheering us on for the season. So to have that, it\u2019s honestly eye-opening. We still have so many fans, and everyone is cheering us on and wants so much from us. So to hear that motivates us more to play as a team and what it means to be a Lady Vol.\u201d<\/p>\n After months of work, how nice was it to finally put on a uniform and start your Lady Vol careers?<\/p>\n Jada Eads: \u201cHonestly, it was so nice to be able to go out there and play with the group of girls that we\u2019ve been going at it with for months. All the hard work and dedication that we put in, we\u2019re just seeing it pay off. And now we\u2019re going to keep going and put our foot down and continue to work and grind. To be able to go out there and play with the group of girls I\u2019ve been playing with over the summer, coming back from an injury and having them there by my side, has also been great.\u201d<\/p>\n Naomi White: \u201cFor me, it was really a blessing to just be out there. It was a very surreal moment for me. I\u2019ve always dreamed of playing in the SEC, playing at a higher level. So just being out there with this group of girls and then having Coach Kim as my coach, she\u2019s very great. I love her. She\u2019s great, and she\u2019s very understanding of a lot of things, and she just helped us get better. And like Jada said, people are coming off injuries, and it was just great to see them out there for the first time in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Tennessee forward Aaliyah Moore (31), Tennessee guard Rylie Theuerkauf (14) and Tennessee guard Jada Eads (10) dance on the bench during a women\u2019s 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<\/p>\n What did you like from Kennedy [Fauntleroy] and Jada running the point in a difficult system?<\/p>\n Naomi White: \u201cThey always have great control. In practice, they control it very well too. They always have great pace. They\u2019re always looking for the open man. And then just a plus, they can score too. They can get to the basket whenever they want, and then they always make the right reads off of that. So I think it\u2019s just great having point guards like that.\u201d<\/p>\n What stood out about the offensive flow once you settled in, especially in the half court?<\/p>\n Jada Eads: \u201cHonestly, just looking to push the floor. Once we push the floor and we don\u2019t see anything there, we get into sets and just move the ball around. We have so many weapons. Once you move the ball around, the floor is open. If somebody attacks, someone else is open. It feels nice to be able to play with a lot of weapons on the floor. It\u2019s honestly a blessing to play with this group of girls, and to just be able to pass the ball around and fly around and play is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Between your summer with the former Lady Vols and Gordon\u2019s message tonight, do you have a firm idea of what it means to carry on the Lady Vol name?<\/p>\n Jada Eads: \u201cIt was nice. It was eye-opening, honestly, what it means to be a Lady Vol. We had so many people come in that played before us, and they told us what it means to be a Lady Vol. But to have her come over and tell us right after the game, it means so much. While I\u2019m here, I\u2019m noticing what it means to be a Lady Vol and how important it is. So for me to throw on my jersey today and be able to play out on the court in front of the fans, it was a no-brainer. The Tennessee atmosphere here is important, and it\u2019s a blessing, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n Naomi White: \u201cI completely agree with Jada. I just think being here is such an amazing thing, and also the whole legacy around Tennessee. I just think it\u2019s great. And for Bridgette to come up to us and have so many kind words to say to us and give us great advice so we could keep pushing and making moves forward, I think that was great for her to do, and I really appreciated it, because me and her did have a little conversation. So hearing from her and hearing all the things she had to say was great.\u201d<\/p>\n What impressed you most about Naomi White\u2019s game tonight?<\/p>\n Jada Eads: \u201cHonestly, the way she passed the ball. She can score, get downhill, do whatever she wants. But the way she shared the ball, contributed and did everything on the floor really stuck out to me. So when she got the assist-to-turnover ratio award, I was just so happy for her. For her to have that type of versatility in her game, it stuck out to me. So I\u2019m super happy for her.\u201d<\/p>\n Send your questions, comments, and hot takes to our email\u00a0tennesseeonsi@gmail.com\u00a0for the chance to be featured in an article!<\/p>\n Follow Our Social Media Accounts<\/p>\n \u2022 Follow Vols on SI on X (Click\u00a0HERE<\/a>) Sign up for our newsletter to have articles sent straight to your email daily\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m60bmsnq83j78g3vsg.jpg\" "\\"Florida")
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