It's kind of miraculous the Lady Vols ended up landing Rennia Davis.
At first, Tennessee wasn't even in Davis' top five teams.
But the no. 3 wing and no. 12 overall player in the 2017-18 recruiting class took a chance on Rocky Top. Davis said former assistant coach Jolette Law was a key player in convincing her to come.
"I took my visit, and this was my favorite school," Davis said. "I'm glad I'm here now."
Davis rewarded fans of the Big Orange yet again Monday in a 68-56 win over Wichita State. She recorded her first career double-double, scoring 15 points and recording ten rebounds. The freshman cemented herself was one of the Lady Vols' most prolific players in Tennessee's 3-0 start to the season.
"Practice and constantly being around this team has kind of showed everybody their role now," Davis said. "At first, maybe some people didn't know, especially us four freshmen. But I think over time, we've started to get it."
Coach Holly Warlick knows Davis' hometown of Jacksonville, Florida fairly well. Her grandmother lives there. During one of those family visits, Warlick got to scout Davis.
"She hit a jumper with a kid in her face," Warlick said. "She elevated over a kid and made it and I said, 'I have to have this kid.'"
Warlick saw how disciplined Davis was as a person, thanks in part to her family life.
"Rennia has an unbelievably solid mother who makes sure she does things the right way," Warlick said. "Rennia is a product of her mom's discipline, and there's nothing too small or big for Rennia. What I love about her is she'll ask questions. She's soaking it up. She hasn't even tapped the surface of how good she's going to be."
Warlick compared Davis to former Lady Vol great Chamique Holdsclaw, a member of three Tennessee national championship teams and six-time WNBA All-Star.
"Just how she's playing, she does some great things," Warlick said of Davis. "She shoots threes, she rebounds, she can pull up. She's smooth. From day one my expectations for all the freshmen have been high, so I'm not surprised she's doing this, and what's great is she can only get better."
The No. 12 Lady Vols play next on Thanksgiving Day against Marquette in the Cancun Challenge, located in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico.