Kim Caldwell and Lady Vols basketball will have a completely new roster for the upcoming 2026-27 season. After losing each potential returner to the transfer portal, Caldwell signed 13 transfers and a pair of freshmen to complete her third team on Rocky Top.
The reaction to the roster she’s assembled has varied. According to USA TODAY, there are some heavy hitters in the group, though. In a recent post by UT Athletics, it said USA TODAY placed eight incoming transfer signees in its top 125 portal players list.
This is led by Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle. The former All-Big Ten performer is recovering from a season-ending injury a year ago, but has proven to be a capable scorer. The next highest is Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, who led all freshmen in scoring last season. Third is Texas A&M forward Fatmata Janneh, who was a top-five rebounder in the SEC a year ago.
The rest of the list features Georgia guard Rylie Theueurkauf, Auburn guard Harissoum Coulibaly, East Carolina guard Kennedy Fauntleroy, Seton Hall guard Jada Eads and Texas forward Aaliyah Moore.
Here’s where each is placed by USA TODAY:
- No. 19 Kaylene Smikle (Maryland)
- No. 30 Naomi White (Northern Arizona)
- No. 46 Fatmata “Fats” Janneh (Texas A&M)
- No. 57 Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia)
- No. 86 Harissoum Coulibaly (Auburn)
- No. 91 Kennedy Fauntleroy (East Carolina)
- No. 105 Jada Eads (Seton Hall)
- No. 110 Aaliyah Moore (Texas)
More From RTI: What Lady Vols Basketball HC Kim Caldwell Said About Transfer Portal Haul, Each Signee
Caldwell is happy with how her roster turned out heading into her third season. Under a time constraint and with two new assistant coaches, Bill Ferrara and Isoken Uzamere, the group quickly went to work to make necessary changes.
“We had to do it quickly,” Caldwell said. “I am really pleased with the work that we put in over three weeks. We wanted to make sure that we constructed our roster in a way that balanced each other, that we had players that could fit in multiple roles and could shoot the ball.
“The biggest thing is we wanted to recruit heart and people that wanted to work hard and people that knew what was at stake. We really tried to hammer that home in our visits of how hard it was going to be and see if they were up to the challenge, and they all were.”
The outlook for the season also varies. ESPN did not list Tennessee in its updated way-too-early top 25, but USA TODAY listed the Lady Vols at No. 25. ESPN placed UT as a 9-seed in its post-portal bracketology, as well.
