Who is Ruby Whitehorn? Parents and all about Tennessee basketball player reportedly arrested for burglary

Ruby Whitehorn, University of Tennessee’s star athlete, was arrested in Knox County on Friday, August 8.

The 21-year-old college basketball player is facing charges of domestic assault and aggravated burglary, court documents obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel have revealed.

Ruby Whitehorn represents the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the NCAA. According to her profile on the University of Tennessee’s website, the Lady Vols guard was born in Detroit, Michigan, in June 2004. Her mother is named Mechelle Whitehorn, while her godmother is named Lisa Bryant. She also has a brother, Angelo Reese.

Per UTSports.com, Ruby Whitehorn is “majoring in child and family studies with a concentration in community outreach.” She has also received the Dr. Eric W. Barton Women’s Basketball Scholarship.

As a junior guard in 2024-2025, Whitehorn started 28 of 34 games for the Lady Vols. She has scored 11.6 points per game, with an average of 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in each of them.

Our future is bright with this one as a Tiger 🤩 pic.twitter.com/D6QM4TPRl2

— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) February 28, 2023

Before enrolling at the University of Tennessee, Whitehorn studied at Clemson University. Throughout her freshman and sophomore years, Ruby played in 66 games and started in 62 of them.

Over two years, she averaged 10.8 ppg, with 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. During her freshman year, Ruby Whitehorn was also named in the Paradise Jam All-Tournament and ACC All-Freshman Teams.

Ruby Whitehorn was the Clemson Tigers’ highest-rated recruit out of high school

BREAKING: Clemson transfer Ruby Whitehorn has COMMITTED to the Lady Vols! 🍊

The 5’11” Sophomore from Detroit, MI averaged 12.3 PPG and 5.6 RPG for the Tigers this past season. 📈

Whitehorn was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team last year, and was a 2022 McDonald’s All-American… pic.twitter.com/r3gKD3VNYB

— Volology (@Volology) May 13, 2024

According to ESPN, the Michigan native represented Detroit Edison Public Academy in the class of 2022. At the time, she was a five-star prospect, and no. 15 overall and No. 2 guard recruit in the espnW 100. Per ClemsonTigers.com, she was also #1 in the state of Michigan and was the highest-rated recruit in the team’s history.

By the end of her high school basketball career, Whitehorn was a two-time Michigan State Champion. Ruby was also named in AP Division 2 All-State First Teams in 2021 and 2022, and was the State Player of the Year (2022). Additionally, she was also named to the 2022 McDonald's All-American game.

Ruby Whitehorn also had numerous other accolades and records to her name before the Clemson Tigers recruited her. She transferred to the Lady Vols in 2024 and spoke with 247 Sports at the time:

“Transitioning to Tennessee was definitely challenging at first, in terms of getting used to everything. I love the environment, and how they love their sports here. The physical conditioning and stuff like that with Coach Kim [Caldwell], she's brought that different type of aspect here, and so it's just been challenging adjusting to all of those things, but it's been great.”

Whitehorn added:

“The support system is unlike anywhere else. Everybody cares about being a Vol, so it's just been amazing having so much support.”

However, Ruby Whitehorn recently found herself in trouble after an arrest on domestic assault and aggravated burglary charges. The police were responding to a domestic dispute on Friday at 4:18 pm in North Knox County, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.

According to the police report, the alleged victim claimed that the altercation happened in her residence’s parking lot. She accused Whitehorn of chasing her to her house and kicking the door open, while the complaint read (via the Knoxville News Sentinel):

“[The victim] in complete fear that Ruby was going to harm her while she was inside the house.”

The police report highlighted that neither the alleged victim nor Whitehorn had visible injuries. However, the basketball player has claimed that she was attacked and that she defended herself. Whitehorn also claimed that the alleged victim took her passport, and she was “just getting her property back,” per the police report.

Ruby Whitehorn was deemed the primary aggressor based on the video evidence provided by the other person. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 12 at 8:30 am, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.