Following a rough ending to year two of Lady Vols basketball under Kim Caldwell, Tennessee suffered an exodus to the transfer portal. All eight potential returners put their name in the portal and have since committed to programs at the Power Four level.
Despite the tough sledding, Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White has been nothing but supportive of Caldwell in his public appearances. In an interview with 99.1 The Sports Animal on Wednesday, he admitted the exodus to the portal for the Lady Vols didn’t take him by surprise, given the ending to the season, but pointed to the status of college sports.
“No, not after the season that we had and knowing that’s not our expectation as a program and that’s not Kim’s expectation as a coach,” White said. “There was not just some, but a lot of things missing in terms of how we want to play and how the team clicked and that becomes not the best experience, certainly for our coaches, our fans, but also from a player’s perspective.
“We’re in this era of it’s free agency after every season. All parties involved can make decisions that are in their best interest, and when you have kind of a frustrating season, it didn’t surprise me there’s that much turnover. But we’re seeing it on the men’s side, too.”
More From RTI: Lady Vols Basketball Guard Staying in the SEC Through the Transfer Portal
White also said he admires how Caldwell has handled the rough patch in her tenure. Along with the roster renovation, she hired a pair of assistant coaches, Bill Ferrara from Florida State and Isoken Uzamere from Georgia, to replace Gabe Lazo’s departure and the parting of ways with Roman Tubner.
“I’m proud of Kim as a leader,” White said. “Coaching is a complex profession. Talented coaches tend to excel early in their career, and this is all different coaches in all different sports, in their ability to connect with athletes, know the game, and motivate, and all those things. As you rise in the profession, and in this instance, take over bigger organizations, management and being a CEO is important, too.
“I admire how Kim, coming off a disappointing year two after a really exciting year one, evaluated changes that needed to be made in her program and made them, and pretty decisively and aggressively, and I think we’re in a great place now.”
In the portal, Caldwell has landed five players so far. This includes Liberty’s Avery Mills, Northern Arizona’s Naomi White, Stanford’s Harper Peterson and Georgia’s Zhen Craft and Rylie Theuerkauf. There are more commitments expected to continue to roll in, as well.
2 Responses
Such a sad state of affairs for such a storied women’s college basketball program. Will still keep tabs on how things go on moving forward. Just glad I am not a season ticket holder and might have to consider giving that up…..
They both need to go, this is NOT what was built here for decades‼️