Kennedy Fauntleroy (pronounced FONT-luh-roy), the American Conference Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year last season at East Carolina, became the 11th transfer to sign an Institutional Financial Aid Agreement (IFAA) with Tennessee, Lady Vol coach Kim Caldwell confirmed on Wednesday.
Fauntleroy, a 5-foot-7 forward from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, flourished in her lone season at ECU, earning first-team all-conference, all-newcomer, and all-defensive honors in the American in addition to her previously mentioned headliner recognition. Last year, she started 31 of 32 games, averaging 13. 7 points, 4. 8 assists, 3. 4 rebounds, and 2. 7 steals for the Pirates while shooting 45 three-pointers and 73 percent from the free-throw line.
Fauntleroy joins previously announced transfer portal signees in Tennessee’s 2026 transfer portal class, which includes 5-6 guard Shaelyn Steele (Penn State), 5-7 guard Jada Eads (Seton Hall), 5-9 guards Avery Mills (Liberty), Naomi White (Northern Arizona), Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia), 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).
UT has two incoming freshmen, including 6-1 guard/forward Gabby Minus (Dacula, Ga. /Hebron Christian Academy), ranked No. 64 in the 2026 SportsCenter NEXT 100 class, and 5-10 guard Irene Oboavwoduo (Manchester, England/Trinity Church of England H. S. ), who has a wealth of international experience with several Great Britain national teams.
Before her trip to ECU, Fauntleroy played in 22 games with 12 starts for Arizona State in 2024-25, averaging 8. 7 points and 3. 3 rebounds per game with 55 assists and 35 steals. She scored in double figures eight times, with a career-high of 17 points against Texas Tech, and had five games with six or more assists.
In 2023-24, Fauntleroy appeared in five games for Oklahoma State as a sophomore, averaging 7. 8 points, 2. 6 rebounds, 2. 2 assists, and 1. 4 steals. She started the year with 14 points and four steals as the Cowgirls topped SIUE by 100 points. She played a season-high 31 minutes and recorded a season-high four assists against Colorado.
Fauntleroy began her collegiate career at Georgetown, where she was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team and unanimously chosen BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. She started 29 of 30 games, scoring 10. 9 points per game, placing second on the squad. She also averaged 3. 9 rebounds, 2. 9 assists, and 2. 4 steals per game. She averaged 11. 9 points, 4. 3 rebounds, 2. 7 steals, and 2. 9 assists in league play.
Fauntleroy starred for New Hope Academy in high school, finishing No. 74 in the SportsCenter NEXT 100 recruiting rankings. She was named the 2020-21 MaxPreps Maryland Player of the Year as a junior, averaging 16. 4 points, 4. 7 assists, 4. 5 rebounds, and 3. 8 steals per game while shooting 38. 3 percent from three-point range. She also had a remarkable 4. 3 assist/turnover ratio.
Smikle is ranked No. 8 by The Athletic, No. 13 by HoopsHQ, and No. 14 by espnW in the 2026 portal recruiting rankings, while Janneh is ranked No. 16 by HoopsHQ.
