The Lady Vols basketball coaching staff under Kim Caldwell underwent a significant change on Monday. After Gabe Lazo resigned from his role as an assistant coach on Friday, Tennessee hired Florida State associate head coach Bill Ferrara to replace him, the school officially announced.
“I am pleased to welcome Bill to our staff,” Caldwell said. “He has played an instrumental role in Florida State’s high-scoring offense and three-point shooting over the past four seasons. We look forward to adding his technical knowledge, experience and recruiting abilities to our program.”
Ferrara now joins a coaching staff at Tennessee under the direction of Caldwell that currently features Roman Tubner, Jenna Burdette, Angel Rizor and Lexie Barrier.
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Prior to his time with the Seminoles, Ferrara was the associate head coach at St. John’s for the 2021-22 season. Before that, he was an assistant coach at New Mexico from 2017-21.
Ferrara has prior experience coaching in the SEC at Florida. He was an assistant with the Gators from 2015-17 under Amanda Butler. Before that, he was an assistant at George Washington, where he coached future WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones. He spent 2013-15 at GW.
“I am thrilled to join Kim Caldwell’s staff at Tennessee and excited to be part of a program with such a rich history,” Ferrara said. “I look forward to bringing my energy and experience to the Lady Vols. Kim’s incredibly-successful 10-year track record as a head coach speaks for itself, and I’m ready to get to work in recruiting and can’t wait to get on the floor with the most storied program in women’s basketball.”
This past season, Tennessee finished 16-14 (8-8 SEC). The Lady Vols were the 6-seed in the SEC Tournament, but lost to Alabama in the second round. They earned a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but lost to NC State in the Round of 64 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
