KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Talaysia Cooper was selected to earn All-SEC Second Team honors, and Tennessee women’s basketball is picked to finish fourth in the conference standings in the media’s preseason all-league and preseason poll voting that was released on Monday morning.
Kim Caldwell‘s Lady Vols, who tied for eighth in the standings last season, are projected to place fourth in 2025-26 behind South Carolina, Texas and LSU. Those three squads are ranked second, fourth and fifth in ESPN’s preseason top 25. The UT women were picked by SEC media members to finish one spot ahead of fifth-place Oklahoma in the SEC. Those two teams rank No. 7 and No. 6, respectively, in the national poll.
Fellow nationally-ranked teams Ole Miss (12th) and Vanderbilt (24th) check in at No. 6 and No. 7 in the media’s preseason conference poll, with Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi State rounding out the SEC’s top 10. The remaining six teams include Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Texas A&M, Auburn and Arkansas.
Cooper is one of 11 players bestowed with preseason All-SEC acclaim, including six on the second unit. She earned All-SEC Second Team accolades in 2025-26 and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team as well after her first year at Tennessee. Additionally, Cooper was a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist and on watch lists for the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.
The 6-foot guard started 27 of 34 games for UT a year ago, averaging a team-leading 16.6 points, 3.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per contest. She was second for UT with 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and finished fourth in three-pointers made (36).
Cooper’s scoring average tied her for ninth at Tennessee in career scoring average after one season, and she tied for sixth in a season all-time at UT as well as No. 1 in the SEC and eighth nationally in 2024-25 with 105 steals. Her steals average of 3.088 ranked third in a season and second in a career all-time at UT while standing No. 1 in the SEC and No. 10 nationally in 2024-25. Additionally, she carded the third-most steals in a game ever by a Lady Vol, grabbing nine vs. Oklahoma.
Order of Finish
1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. LSU
4.Tennessee
5. Oklahoma
6. Ole Miss
7. Vanderbilt
8. Kentucky
9. Alabama
10. Mississippi State
11. Florida
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. Texas A&M
15. Auburn
16. Arkansas
Preseason Player of the Year
Madison Booker, Texas
Preseason All-SEC First-Team
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Reagan Beers, Oklahoma
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Madison Booker, Texas
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Preseason All-SEC Second Team
Clara Strack, Kentucky
Mikayla Williams, LSU
Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Rori Harmon, Texas
