Ahead of the 2026-27 season, Kim Caldwell has added another piece to her Lady Vols basketball staff. On Friday, Tennessee announced the hiring of Denise Jilka as the program’s executive director of basketball operations. This position was previously held by Catherine Greene, who left ahead of last season.
Jilka has worked at UT for nearly 12 years in multiple roles. This includes working alongside the Lady Vols in the area of academics. She also has served in a variety of roles that involve communication and coordination with student-athletes as well as with other team and university personnel.
Now, Jilka will work alongside assistant director of women’s basketball operations/special assistant to the head coach Maggie Stanley. Tennessee describes their roles as handling program logistics, academics, daily scheduling, travel and more.
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“I could not be happier to announce Denise Jilka as our executive director of basketball operations,” Caldwell said. “Because of her work ethic and her familiarity with our program, our staff and personnel around the university and SEC, I expect this to be a seamless transition. Her energetic personality and spirit, her organizational skills and her ability to connect with people will serve her and our program well in this role.”
Jilka’s athletic background is primarily in softball. She played at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, earning a B.S. in psychology in 2011. She then earned an M.A. in sport and performance psychology from the University of Denver in 2013 and completed an M.S. in sport management from the University of Tennessee in 2017.
Caldwell’s coaching staff also saw notable changes this offseason. Gabe Lazo departed and Tennessee parted ways with Roman Tubner to create two openings. Those were filled by Bill Ferrara and Isoken Uzamere. That duo joins Jenna Burdette, Angel Rizor and Lexie Barrier as assistant coaches. The Lady Vols also hired a new director of video and strategy, Brandon Miller, from NC State.
