It’s pretty rare for a young head coach without much of a track record at the top of the sport to go out and recruit as well as anyone in the country. That’s exactly what Lady Vols basketball head coach Kim Caldwell has done on the recruiting trail, though.
After landing the No. 2 class in the country, according to ESPNW, in her first season, which featured three McDonald’s All-Americans and another pair of four-stars, she parlayed it with the top-ranked transfer portal class on ESPN. She’s already got the ball rolling in a big way in the 2026 class, as well, with No. 2 overall recruit Oliviyah Edwards committing just over a week ago.
So, what’s been resonating with these top recruits and Caldwell’s program? She’s selling multiple things about the prestigious program, but one of them is the chance to be a part of a new wave at Tennessee. Top recruits can get lost in the shuffle elsewhere, or they can be the face of a brand as big as the Lady Vols’.
“I think we’re getting recruits that see what we’re building and want to be a part of what we’re building,” Caldwell said. “It’s a great opportunity to be a part of a class that helps a program get back on the national scene. And that’s really what we’re selling, is maybe I don’t have the tenure that some of the other SEC coaches or some of the other coaches that they’re going on these visits have. But if they want to be a great player on a team that is still establishing theirselves and we’re still establishing what we are trying to do, they could go…
“We’re recruiting the top kids in the country. And so, they could go to another program and be another good player on a great team. Or they could come here, and they could be the face of something, the start of something. And that’s really our pitch. I think if you get recruits here on a football game day or a weekend, I think that kind of sells itself. I think anytime we walk around and families see that Knoxville bleeds orange, there’s a lot here that speaks for itself on our visits.”
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Caldwell and her staff, featuring elite recruiter Gabe Lazo, also target a specific type of player. What they don’t want is someone who is hoping to sit back and learn for a few years before getting on the floor.
Instead, Tennessee is going after players who are craving minutes as a true freshman.
This is a part of the recruiting process when the Lady Vols are feeling out who they want to go for. Caldwell knows she can’t play everyone on the roster, but she hopes to get a competitive group that battles for playing time.
“We recruit for players that want to play right away,” Caldwell said. “There’s some freshmen that want to come and sit and develop and sit behind somebody for two years, and we don’t recruit players that want that. And those are conversations that we have, making sure that they know that they don’t get to be a freshman for very long. So everyone that came in was expecting that. Now we’re just competing for who’s going to be on the floor.”
It’s impossible to fully project what Tennessee’s rotation will look like this year, but it should feature a good number of freshmen and newcomers. Despite just starting their college careers, the early word around both Mia Pauldo and Deniya Prawl in particular has been that they’ve stood out. From what the media was able to watch on Tuesday, both looked to fit the billing.
The trio of transfers, Janiah Barker, Jersey Wolfenbarger and Nya Robertson, are all also projected to play a big role. The remaining freshmen, Jaida Civil, Mya Pauldo and Lauren Hurst, will have their fair chances to impress, as well, and could earn a spot in the rotation.
