KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Former Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball standout Tor’e Alford has joined the University of Tennessee women’s basketball staff as a graduate assistant.
Alford is entering her first season with the Lady Vols and reunites with Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell, who coached Alford for one season at Glenville State in West Virginia.
Alford comes to Tennessee after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma, during the 2025-26 season. She has also coached AAU basketball with Team Trae Young and Midwest Hustle Elite.
Before beginning her coaching career, Alford put together a successful college playing career that began with three seasons at Hutchinson Community College.
Alford became one of the most accomplished guards in Blue Dragon history, helping HutchCC reach the NJCAA national tournament three times.
She earned All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference honors in each of her three seasons, receiving honorable mention recognition in 2019-20, second-team honors in 2020-21 and first-team honors in 2021-22.
During her final season at Hutchinson, Alford averaged 13.3 points per game and made 61 3-pointers.
She finished her Blue Dragon career with 1,032 points, ranking seventh on HutchCC's all-time scoring list. She also ranks fifth in program history with 162 made 3-pointers and fourth with 329 assists. Her 82 career games played are the most in program history.
Alford continued her career at Glenville State in 2022-23, where she played for Caldwell. She appeared in 32 games with 12 starts, averaging 5.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while finishing second on the team with 50 3-pointers.
Glenville State finished 33-3 and advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifinals that season.
Alford played her final collegiate season at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in 2023-24. She started all 27 games and averaged 10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and one steal per game while shooting 33.7% from 3-point range.
She earned her degree from Northeastern State.
A Derby, Kansas, native, Alford helped Derby High School win the Class 6A state championship in 2018 before beginning her college career at HutchCC.