My answer: Absolutely
Remember Shannon Bobbitt?
From Wikipedia:
“Following a stellar college career in which 5'2" Bobbitt won two Division I national titles at the University of Tennessee, she decided to enter the WNBA and began her professional basketball career playing point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks.”
Some here are wanting Jada Walker, who played at Kentucky, from the portal this year, she is 5’7.
Ever notice how many rebounds 5’8 Jordan Walker slips in and gets? Do we often play both Walker and Powell together to guard the short quick guards of other teams?
Edie Darby is 5’7, that’s 5 inches taller than Bobbitt, 3 inches taller than Miles, 1 inch taller than Powell, and 1 inch shorter than last year’s WNBA Champions Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot.
This year, Freshman Edie happens to have older, more experienced point guards ahead of her. Even so, she is described by her teammates as “a baller.” Think they cheer her on just because she’s nice? I don’t think so. They see how she works. She is a smart gritty player, who can shoot. She may not be interested in playing pro ball, I believe she’s majoring in pre-med, but I believe Edie will be our fantastic Starting point guard at some point in her Lady Vol career.
GO EDIE!
Reiterating a point made by other posters, this comparison does not hold up. Bobbitt had almost superhuman lateral quickness. Nobody, including the then best guard in the country Ivory Latta, could get by her. Viv Stringer, after the LVs knocked them out of the NCAAs, said that Bobbit was disturbing and that she was a midget mutant. And defenders would not get tight to her because she would leave them in the dust. And as pointed out, She had Harlem globetrotter handles. But even with those incredible tools, Shannon could not make at the next level, she hit a limit where the size discrepancy was just too much to overcome.
Vandersloot, like Steve Nash, is a rare exception who possessed a Tom Brady-like vision to see angles and options that other people don't but they still were major defensive liabilities.
To some extent your post is like saying, look Joshua Dobbs is two inches taller than Patrick Mahommes so he has what it takes to be an MVP and Superbowl champion
If not for the family connection, we would not be having this conversation and she would be playing at some lower tier D1 school and no one ever think of her as future contrbutor or be dreaming of her coming into the program through the transfer portal.
If there is one fair point of agreement on this board, is that the LVs desperately need upgrades at the guard position. I am a fan of Jordan W. and respect her leadership and determination to overcome catastrophic knee injuries. And think Powell and Miles can be decent back-up options next year. But, to be a genuine powerhouse, the LVs need a better option.
Edie has a long way to go to match the strength, physicality, and quickness of Powell and Walker, so she is kind of two levels behind.
I am not saying she can't in some absolute sense become the LVs starting PG but she has a long improvement road in front of her