A year ago, Lady Vols senior guard Kaiya Wynn was sidelined for the entire year due to a torn Achilles tendon in her right leg. While she wasn’t able to play in her true senior year, it did give her an additional year of eligibility due to the granting of a medical redshirt. Now, she’s looking to take advantage of the tough break in her fifth year.
Just a few months out from Tennessee getting the season started, Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell met with the media. She updated the status of Wynn, who is just finalizing her time in the rehab process.
“Kaiya is cleared. She’s back in action, so it’s good to have her back on the floor,” Caldwell said. “It was a long road for her, so I think yesterday was her last day of having to go to rehab, and now she’s back and we celebrated that. I’m proud of her. She has gotten back into things, and she has hit failure, and she has not blinked, she has not pouted, she has not quit. She’s not given up. And I know that that’s a hard injury to come back from. We praise her publicly because to see her handle it and not show any emotion or any frustration, that’s tough, and she’s a tough player for that.”
During the short portion of practice open to the media on Thursday, Wynn was a full participant. There was no noticeable limp or other limitations when Wynn was on the floor.
More From RTI: Kim Caldwell Updates Status of Lady Vols Basketball Guard Ruby Whitehorn
Wynn suffered her injury in the final stage of October, just ahead of the 2024-25 season. This was Caldwell’s first year atop the program. While Wynn recovered, she was still a staple on the sideline during games and at practices.
As a junior, Wynn was one of only five players on the team to appear in all 33 games. She averaged 4.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a bench asset. The year prior, Wynn played in 31 games for an average of 5.0 minutes per outing. She posted 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.
As a freshman, Wynn played in 30 matches. She averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 8.2 minutes per night. She entered with a freshman class of Sara Puckett, Karoline Striplin and Brooklynn Miles. Puckett stuck with Wynn for the entire stretch, exhausting her eligibility this past year. Striplin and Miles both would enter the transfer portal.
Wynn is initially from Nashville, where she grew up alongside former Tennessee men’s basketball star Chaz Lanier. The Wynn and Lanier families are still friends after they spent time together prior to and at Ensworth High School. Wynn would go to Foster High School in Richmond, Texas, to end her prep career.
