"She’s just getting started": Vols Coach pumps up Rickea Jackson for big day in WNBA Draft

Later this week, Rickea Jackson is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2024 WNBA draft. As she prepares for this next step in her career, her coach is gearing up to support her.

Jackson started her college career at Mississippi State but transferred to Tennessee after her junior season. She's coming off a senior season where she averaged 20.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 2.3 APG across 25 matchups.

Just one day before the WNBA draft, Tennesse coach Samantha Williams posted a highlight reel of Rickea Jackson on X. She also mentioned that she's traveling to New York to see her former player get drafted to the pros in person.

Williams is fresh off her third season as coach of Tennessee's women's team. Overall, she has over two decades' worth of experience as a coach. Since arriving at Tennessee, Williams has never won less than 20 games. This season, they had an overall record of 20-13 while going 10-6 in their conference.

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Where is Rickea Jackson projected to go in the WNBA Draft?

The 2024 WNBA draft has a lot of hype around due to the impressive pool of talent. While most of the attention has been focused on Caitlin Clark, there are still countless other notable prospects.

Among the top players in the 2024 class is Rickea Jackson. Recent mock drafts have her coming off the board at No. 4 to the LA Sparks. The players projected to go ahead of her are Clark, Cameron Brink and South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso.

The Sparks' roster is loaded with guard depth, which makes sense why they would target Jackson in the draft. Standing at six-foot-two, she could provide them some depth at the forward position.

LA was towards the bottom of the WNBA standings last season, finishing the regular season with a 17-23 record. Only the Indiana Fever, Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury did worse than them.

The most notable name on the Sparks' roster right now is Nneka Ogwumike. She's coming off her eighth All-Star season, posting averages of 19.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG and 2.7 APG. Ogwumike was drafted first overall by the Sparks in 2012 and led them to a title during her MVP season in 2016.

With Ogwumike on the back end of her prime, LA needs a new young cornerstone who could lead LA into the future. Following her impressive senior season, Rickea Jackson could end up being the next face of the franchise.