With less than a month until Lady Vols basketball gets year two under Kim Caldwell underway, Tennessee forward Zee Spearman met with the media to give her thoughts on the team. She was asked about her time with Team USA, playing for Kim Caldwell and more.
Spearman enters year two at Tennessee after transferring in from Miami. In her first season, she averaged 11.7 points per game to go with six rebounds. She shot 51.5% from the field and showed the ability to stretch the floor, as well. Now, she’ll be looked at as a reliable option to score at the rim and a threat at 6-foot-4 in the press on defense.
Here’s what she said.
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On her time with USA Basketball in the 3×3 Tournament
“It was a good experience. I’ve never been to China before, so it was a lot of people I met. Different type of environment, different type of food, but it was real cool.”
On if playing for Kim Caldwell helped her physically get ready for 3×3 basketball
“Yeah, but I don’t think anything can train you for that. It’s so physical out there. Especially, international, they’re really good at 3×3. They study that all the time.”
On what has strengthened her and Caldwell’s relationship
“I think what strengthens our relationship is I don’t lie to Coach. Anything that I know, she knows. Anything that’s going on with me, she knows. I feel like we just have that relationship to where I can tell her anything and she knows when I’m not myself because we have that good, genuine relationship. That makes everything better.
On when she realized she could tell Caldwell anything
“It was probably like midseason last year. Going into the tournament, SEC Tournament, actually. I realized, like, I just have to be straight up with her. There’s no room for me to screw around this, I just have to do the work and put the work in and take everything that she gives me and understand her.”
On incoming players
“I love the team. I feel like we’re gonna be great. I’m so excited for the season, we just have so much joy. There’s so much, they just want to win. I love to see that they don’t want to lose. They go into the gym every day with effort. They always in the gym, they always working, it’s always great energy.”
On Caldwell balancing motherhood
“We love Conor (Caldwell’s son). He was just in here the other day not too long ago. He’s always here when we’re practicing. He’s a good kid. He’s real chill. He don’t be crying or anything. She be chilling, so I guess like, cause she has help and stuff like that. She’s used to it. She was coaching while pregnant the whole year for her so that’s nothing for her. She can do anything.”
On where she’s grown in the offseason
“Mentally for sure. I had a really rough mental path last year. So I think me just like changning my mental and overcoming it and realizing who I am as a player and just continuing to stay in the gym and showcase that, it really helped me a lot in my confidence.”
On her favorite memory with Caldwell’s son
“It was one of the times she was still pregnant, I remember like that, the team, we were sweet singing to him. That was one of my favorite memories. We all used to talk to him before practice or after practice just have a conversation with him like he know what we’re saying.”
On overcoming mental hurdles
“I feel like with me, everybody is different, with me, staying in the gym, working on my craft. It gave me a lot of confidence, because I understood, being there along with Coach, understood I can do a lot. I should not be doubting myself. I should not not have confidence. I’m really a good player. Just staying in the gym, being active really helped me a lot.”
On Caldwell helping
“She always tells me what I’m doing good, but she’ll always tell me when I’m like, oh pick it up, for sure. She has realized the big change, also, and makes me real proud to continue doing it.”
On transfers Janiah Barker and Jersey Wolfenbarger
“They’re beasts. I love going up against them. I love the competition. We’re always talking crazy to each other. We’re real competitive. We know that it’s always love. Us going up against each other is going to make us so much better going into the SEC and start playing and things like that because we don’t make anything easy. It’s always good competition.”
On if any freshmen stand out in how quickly they’ve picked things up
“It was a little rough in the beginning but they’re starting to catch on and things like that. I didn’t catch on that quick last year, so them catching as quick as they are, yeah, we’re going to be a real good team.”
On the biggest difference for her compared to a year ago
“I’m more on a path of being a leader. I feel like I really wasn’t too worried about being a leader last year. I was so much in my head. I feel like now I’m picking everybody else up. I don’t need that much energy from nobody else, I can be that energy for somebody else.”
On Kaiya Wynn on the sideline last year
“I love Kaiya. She’s always doing, no matter what, no matter the circumstance, she’s always going to bring the energy, she’s always going to bring the love. I felt like at times that we had when we were in our rough patch, we needed that. She always came up around and made sure we’re good and tell us we’re good, keep going. Even though she wasn’t playing and she wanted to be out there so bad, she always gave us energy. There was never no time that she was out in that time that she had that she was upset that she was out. She was always happy, always giving us good energy and we needed that.”
On Wynn’s mentality now that she’s on the court
“She’s still the same way. She might be a little bit more like trying to get herself back into the flow of everything. With her being the way she was last year, we have no problem giving her the same energy. She don’t have to worry about us doubting her, us not giving her the confidence as long as she shoots the ball and knows what she knows how to do.”
On who has the biggest personality among the freshmen
“Mya, for sure. Mya, Mya, Mya. She always a burst of energy. I love Mya. She’s always a burst of energy. She’s always going to make sure I’m good, I’m gonna make sure she’s good. That’s really my kid. I love her so much. She always has a smile on her face. I’m talking about I could have a bad day, I just look at Mya, she’s gonna make me smile. She doesn’t have to do anything. Sometimes I realize she can get in her head a lot so I know I can be that person that can build her up. Like I got you, you good, we’ve all been in that place before.”
On how the team will react when Wynn takes the floor
“You should’ve seen when she made her first bucket in practice. We was hype. I can’t wait for Kaiya to be on the court. I love playing with Kaiya, I love the energy she brings, I can’t wait for it.”
On the biggest difference in Caldwell going into year two
“She let a lot of stuff slide last year. This year, oh man, we can’t even, I don’t even know, we can’t even miss a sprint. Last year she probably gave us a couple sprints we kept missing like ya’ll good, we’re gonna keep doing it. But, no, we gotta be in shape right now or we’re not playing, forreal.”
On if the conditioning is easier in year two
“I feel like her conditioning will never be easy, but I can say I’m in better shape. I can say that. But I’d say it’s still hard for sure. But I love how hard it is because it pushes me to be better.”
On her approach to the offseason knowing she needs to be in good shape
“I didn’t even go home. I stayed in Knoxville. I was in the gym with Nolan running and stuff like that. Nothing can really prepare you for running. You just got to get back in shape.”
