BALTIMORE — Kim Caldwell returned to her roots. There was no other way. She spent much of the offseason looking inward, searching for the leader she wanted to become.
If the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team was going to flourish this season, it was going to be Caldwell doing things her way with players who believed.
Oh yes, the frenetic, NASCAR-type system was still going to be a staple of her philosophy. But she knew the only way to make it work was through a combination of vulnerability, authenticity, and intentionality.
So, when Caldwell was asked what she learned about herself as a leader after last season’s challenging campaign, which saw a mass exodus of players enter the transfer portal after Tennessee lost 11 of its final 13 games, she smiled as if she couldn’t wait to answer.
“I tried to become a better leader, and I really looked at myself and looked at how to lead, how I wanted to lead my staff, and how I wanted to lead my team,” Caldwell shared with reporters postgame following Tennessee’s 98-60 non-conference victory over Coppin State last week at the Physical Education Complex.
“When you’re the head coach of a program like this, you touch so many people, and it’s not always just about your team. It’s about your staff. It’s about other people. And when I was a younger coach, I spent all of my summers listening to podcasts, or reading, or studying the game. I really went back to that this year and tried to really decide who I wanted to be as a leader at this level and how I wanted to treat my staff and how I wanted to treat my team.”
She didn’t make moves simply to be different; Caldwell made moves designed to make a difference. The result was a return to the fundamentals of what makes basketball special: joy, passion, and connection.
It was evident throughout the summer as Tennessee players, despite arriving from different programs like tourists, joined forces and grew closer. There were team dinners. Apartment hangouts. Nail appointments together.
Those connections didn’t remain confined to restaurants, living rooms, and nail salons. They carried over to the court, where the Lady Vols displayed the same togetherness. Nametags weren’t needed for the first Tennessee team meeting.
“It was really just about who we wanted to be,” Tennessee freshman Gabby Minus said to reporters postgame. “I think that was the biggest thing for this team. Like, who are we going to be when we’re on the court? Who are we going to be off the court? And just like finding our culture, we had a lot of standards that everybody individually set, and then we put it through practice every day.”
The Lady Vols displayed that same togetherness against the Eagles, standing and cheering whenever Caldwell made substitutions, which was often. She shuttled players in and out so consistently that the scorer’s table resembled Grand Central Station during rush hour, with players constantly checking in and out of the game like a hockey line shift.
‘A coach that believed in me’
In his book, “A Promised Land,” former president Barack Obama wrote, “Leadership is a transfer of belief, accountability and love.”
Caldwell’s approach to rebuilding Tennessee embodied those principles. She believed in her players, held them accountable to the program’s standards, and understood that caring for them sometimes required uncomfortable conversations.
However, Caldwell’s honesty proved to be the real game-changer. Sometimes the most compassionate thing a leader can offer isn’t reassurance. It’s the truth.
That philosophy shaped every hard conversation Caldwell had with the players she recruited this summer. There was no ambiguity. Before they were offered a chance to represent one of college basketball’s most storied programs, they knew the standards and expectations.
“For me, it was someone who has the injury history that I have,” Tennessee’s Aaliyah Moore said postgame to reporters. “I just wanted to play for a coach that believed in me. I knew what I could do, and I knew it would be hard. I just needed a coach that believed in me and helped me get to where I can play again. And they did that.
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“I just felt like, on my visit, she was very honest. I don’t like coaches that aren’t honest with you. At the end of the day, this is a business. I have lots of respect for Coach Kim because she was very honest with me. But I think that’s the biggest thing that sold me.”
After an injury sidelined her for nearly two years, Moore is thankful for the opportunity to showcase the skills that made her a force when she was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Tournament Team in 2024. Moore tore her ACL at Texas during the 2022–23 season and sat out the 2025–26 season to undergo surgeries on both knees.
It made the pregame moment of Moore, with her blonde braid falling down her back and pink earphones covering her ears, adjusting her black knee brace in a semi-empty facility, quietly cherishing every moment, even more meaningful. Moore’s movements were deliberate, almost ceremonial, representing a triumph over adversity, fueled by perserverance.
Moore sparkled against Coppin State with 11 points in 19 minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“I told coach what I wanted to accomplish,” Moore said. “She said, ‘You can do these things, and this is how we’re going to do it.’ And I feel like, I mean, just me being able to be back on the floor and playing again is a big testament to all the hard work that I put in and the great job that the staff has done to help me get here.”
‘Came here with a purpose’
Moore wasn’t the only Tennessee player returning from injury.
Graduate guard Kaylene Smikle played seven games last season at Maryland before opting to undergo a procedure to address a nagging knee injury. While temporarily leaving the game was hard, her faith and family steeled Smikle, foundational keys to her as a person. She worked hard, and after graduating from Maryland with an arts and sciences degree, Smikle decided to come to Tennessee.
If the first two games are any indication, Smikle, named to the Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List, has found her groove. She poured in 31 points in the season-opening victory over Duquesne. It was a smashing debut as Smikle’s point production in her first game as a Tennessee player was the second-most in program history behind Patricia “Trish” Robinson’s 51-points against Kentucky in 1976.
Then she scored 17 of her team-high 18 points in the second half against Coppin State. Ten of those points were scored in the first 2:30 of the third quarter.
“Coming to Tennessee was a great choice for me,” Smikle said to The IX Sports postgame. “They really helped me prepare through my time off and recover to be able to play now. So, I give all thanks to them, and to God. I didn’t force anything and always let the game come to me, so that’s what happened,” she said in reference to starting in the second half.
For Smikle, the time away from the court provided something valuable. As the 14th-ranked player in the transfer portal according to ESPN, this was an opportunity to become a stronger student of the game. She admitted that while rehabbing, she was able to observe more, devour more film, and, more importantly, stay patient, knowing she would return and compete at a high level.
How Caldwell rebuilt her team
Caldwell’s personal transformation was mirrored by the roster she assembled, a collection of players whose journeys to Knoxville were as different as the obstacles they had overcome.
Tennessee’s roster had transformed like an America’s Next Top Model glow-up. Tyra Banks would be proud. Yet peeling back the layers of this team reveals stories of sacrifice, second chances and an unshakable will to keep fighting. A year ago at this time, this team was scattered across the country, playing for other programs.
Some were contemplating their futures in the transfer portal. Others were rehabbing in silence, with only the clanking of weights providing a sense of normalcy as earbuds rested in their ears, sweat poured down their foreheads, and they grimaced through one more grueling repetition, pushing their limits in the weight room.
From the outside, Tennessee’s roster seemed assembled overnight and delivered with the speed of an Amazon Prime order. After all, 14 of its 16 players committed between April 7 and April 28.
But behind that whirlwind of commitments was a team meticulously constructed amid by relentless recruiting visits, countless conversations, and an unyielding belief in Caldwell’s system. She knew what she wanted.
The result was a 13-player 2026 transfer portal signing class ranked ninth nationally by USA Today, according to Tennessee’s game notes. Nine of Tennessee’s transfers were double-digit scorers at their previous schools, proving that putting the ball in the basket consistently shouldn’t be an issue this season.
Jada Eads (Seton Hall), Kennedy Faunterloy (Arizona State), Fatmata Janneh (Texas A&M), Avery Mills (Liberty), Nya Robertson (SMU), Naomi White (Northern Arizona), Moore and Smikle have been all-conference selections at previous schools.
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Coppin State head women’s basketball coach Darrell Mosley knew firsthand the talent Tennessee was getting in Faunterloy.
Mosley spent two years as an associate head coach at Arizona State, where he coached the Upper Marlboro, Maryland, native. Thursday’s game marked Smikle and Faunterloy’s second appearance against Coppin State during their collegiate careers.
Faunterloy’s 12 points, seven assists, and three steals in 23 minutes energized the Lady Vols. For Mosley, it was an opportunity to see a familiar player whose game and maturity had continued to evolve.
“She was a kid who was pesky on defense; she could score,” Mosley said to reporters postgame. “To see her leave Arizona State and have the year she had last year at East Carolina. Got the numbers, got the stats, and now you got the opportunity to go to a big-time school like Tennessee is great. She and Jada, who was at Seton Hall, are two scrappy guards who can play off each other. I think she’s grown, matured tremendously as a player and as an individual, and I’m just proud to see her play and finish school.”
Yet, not everybody arrived in Knoxville through the transfer portal.
Minus, who signed early, remained committed to Tennessee even when she had an opportunity to reconsider her future and go elsewhere. While others were deciding where to continue their careers, Minus never wavered. Caldwell shared that Minus consistently reassured her that she was still coming to Tennessee.
Minus became the 25th freshman in program history to start her first career collegiate game, which was against Duquesne. She’s averaging 12.5 points through two games.
“My story was a little different,” Minus said postgame to reporters after her 12-point, 11-rebound double-double against Coppin State. “Coach Kim was great through the whole process. I feel like she was still confident in her system, and like I said to everybody, that I still wanted to give her an opportunity because you never want to go without trying and not just leave based on other situations.”
Their journeys intersected not by coincidence, but by the quiet pull of fate.
“From the first day we all clicked,” Smikle said. “Like we all came here with a purpose. We all came here with a chip on our shoulder. That’s like just coming into practice. We all came in practicing hard. We never doubted anything, and we all bought into what Kim wanted us to do.”
‘I wanted to recruit to my mindset’
Change wasn’t isolated to the players, as Caldwell also hired four new full-time staff members, including assistant coaches Bill Ferrara and Isoken Uzamere.
Caldwell’s background as a Division II head coach at Glenville State, where she led the Pioneers to the 2022 national championship, also served her well this summer. In the rolling hills of West Virginia, Caldwell developed her philosophy, strengthened her people skills, and embraced the joy of connecting with the Glenville community.
So, even from Rocky Top, Caldwell found herself returning to the place where she forged her leadership identity. Like the legendary Pat Summitt, whose name adorns Tennessee’s court and is synonymous with excellence in women’s basketball, Caldwell came from humble beginnings.
“I’m a Division II coach with a very small background, and I want to treat these players, no matter what level they come from or how many may go pro, the same way as I treated my Division II kids. At the end of the day, it’s my job to make sure that they leave better human beings. And basketball happens to be a part of it. And I had five Division II players here today because we loved to recruit this area when I was at Glenville State, and so I had five former players come back and watch us play today.”
Those five former players offered something no leadership book could teach: tangible evidence of Caldwell’s lasting impact.
Now approaching 30, they were a reminder of how quickly time passes. The 37-year-old Caldwell joked during the postgame press conference that their ages almost “make me want to throw up.” She still remembered them as young student-athletes navigating uncertainty, figuring out life, and leaning on her for guidance and leadership.
Years later, they had returned to support the coach who helped shape their journeys.
“I wanted to recruit to my mindset, and I think that we did a really good job of that,” Caldwell said. “I have a lot of players in the locker room that think the way that I think, and they love basketball, and they play with a sense of urgency. I wanted to treat them like kids because they’re kids.”
For the Lady Vols, the season is in its infant stages. There are still challenges against UCLA, UConn, Texas, and South Carolina, all four of the last two years’ Final Four programs. With a new team, experiences like playing an early-season road game — its first in program history at an HBCU — are another growth tool not confined to a textbook.
“I just think that’s pretty cool,” Moore said after learning this is the first time Tennessee has played a road game at an HBCU. “Thank you to Coach Kim for putting that on the schedule because not a lot of coaches would do that going to their home, and it was a great environment tonight. I think we need tests like that because it’s just going to get harder and harder. But I think that’s a pretty cool, pretty cool fact, especially being a Black athlete. So very happy that we were able to travel here and play.”
Tennessee got everything it wanted from this experience. The road routine included a chartered flight, an overnight hotel stay, early morning practice, a team meal in a hotel ballroom, and, more importantly, a determined opponent not backing down because of the name on the front of its jerseys. Tennessee led 12-10 after 10 minutes and 27-22 midway through the second quarter before its depth, talent, and the frenetic pace allowed the Lady Vols to gain control.
It’s all part of the process of preparing the Lady Vols for their goals of playing as long as possible and ultimately, returning Tennessee to the summit of women’s college basketball.
“I feel like this team is very bought in,” Moore said. “And once we really get it. We’re going to be really, really good, and so I’m just excited to play with them. And then you also want to play on a team where people have big aspirations and want to do big things, and also work hard. We set a lot of goals for ourselves as a team and personally, but I think we all knew we couldn’t accomplish anything if we didn’t play together as a team and buy into Coach Kim’s system. And I think we’ve done a good job of doing that.”
Caldwell spent the offseason searching for a better version of herself, only to discover that she already possessed the secret sauce. The answers were embedded in the values she had carried with her from Glenville State. It just required an intentional return to her roots.
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