Former Lady Vols basketball guard Lauren Hurst will miss the 2026-27 season at Virginia Tech with knee injury, coach Megan Duffy announced Oct. 30.

Duffy said the 6-foot-3 sophomore already had surgery. Hurst, who was a two-sport star at Cleveland High School, transferred to the Hokies after her freshman season at Tennessee. She was part of a five-player recruiting class that was ranked No. 2 in the nation, and all five of them left the program after one season.

Tennessee will play at Virginia Tech in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Former Lady Vols forward Alyssa Latham also transferred to play for the Hokies.

Hurst, who was ranked No. 45 in the 2025 class by ESPN, broke into the rotation in the second half of last season, playing at least 10 minutes in 10 games after SEC play began. She scored a career-high 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, against Ole Miss.

The Cleveland, Tennessee, native averaged 2.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 10 minutes per game last season season, and she shot 48.8% from the field. Hurst led the team in 3-point percentage, hitting 41.4% on 1.2 attempts from 3-point range. She appeared in 24 games and started in one.

Hurst intended to play both basketball and volleyball at Tennessee, although she never ended up joining the volleyball team. Hurst was a three-time Tennessee Gatorade Player of the year for volleyball at Cleveland High School.