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Andrea Adelson
Birmingham, Alabama – Kim Caldwell was hired almost a year ago to be the coach of Tennessee, where she set a goal immediately.
“My goal was to go to Sweet 16,” she said on Friday.
Although she did not have a power experience 4 and a unique style of play, few elite programs play – a quick offense and a press defense – Caldwell admitted expectations to bring Tennessee back to competition for the championships immediately. There is no other option in Knoxville.
His players did it too. Caldwell said on Friday that his team played his best season’s best basketball in a revenge match with Texas in Sweet 16 on Saturday, and no one is ready for his first year of work for the end.
What a year it was for Caldwell, who was hired last April, then learned that she was pregnant, gave birth to a little boy in January, returned to work a week later and that the Lady Vols are back in a familiar place in Sweet 16.
“I’m just grateful and grateful to be the head coach of this program. It was something that I couldn’t wrap my head before now,” said Caldwell. “To want a baby, all your life and then God gives it to you because you are the most stressed you have ever been and you are, like” Oh, we do this now? “Your eyes are wide open, and you train pregnant, then you train in the postpartum.
“It was an incredible race, and I hope that we can continue as long as possible because I am not yet quite ready to stop coaching these players.”
It also happens that she is back in a city where she won a national division II championship in Glenville State in 2022 using the same style as some doubt about the Power 4 level. Indeed, her seven -year passage to Glenville State hired her for her job as a first division I to Marshall in 2023, where she delivered one of the best seasons in the history of the school.
This attracted the attention of the Tennessee sports director, Danny White, who hired Caldwell to replace Kellie Harper to shake the management of the program and bring the Lady Flights to national relevance. Harper has reached Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2023, but Tennessee has not moved to the Elite Eight since 2016.
“I really have the impression when she arrived, that we would come back here,” said Tennessee striker Sara Puckett. “I went to Sweet 16. This is my third time now, and I have never exceeded it. I have not exceeded it in high school. So I would really like to overtake it. We trusted our coach staff every time they came with what they wanted to do, and they knew what we wanted to do too. And now we are here.”
Assistant Angel Rizor, who is with Caldwell from Glenville State, said that watching Caldwell had his son, Conor, and returns to the team a week later, showed her commitment to what she intended to do this season.
“It’s a lot to ask a person, but they are ready for the task,” said Rizor. “She said:” I love my baby conor, but I’m here to win for Tennessee, so she had this baby, and she came back to work. You can’t find people like that every day. “”
Tennessee has abandoned three of his last four games, winning a seeded n ° 5 before the NCAA tournament. But the Lady Vols went to the Ohio State and upset the seeded n ° 4 Buckeyes 82-67 to obtain another blow in Texas. Caldwell was not on the sidelines the first time they played in January after giving birth. Tennessee lost 80-76.
Now the Lady Flights get another hit with Caldwell on the sidelines.
“Something we wanted all year round was to be one of the country’s 10 best teams,” said Caldwell. “We arrived at 11, then we collapsed a little. It would be a great story that, hey, we did it at the right time.” I don’t know if we can do it or not, but being in the top 8 would be great.
Tennessee, however, is a program that always wants more.
“We are here to win, and we are proud to be here at Sweet 16, but we know that this is just a base,” said Rizor. “We know that we have to do much more to arrive where we want to get. There are doubts that did not believe that we could do it. So, that said:” Yes, we are new, but we are not here to play games. We are here to compete for a national championship. “”
