Tennessee athletic director Danny White has moved swiftly and long gone outside the house the historic Lady Vols’ program in hiring Marshall coach Kim Caldwell as only its fourth head coach in the NCAA era.
White introduced the employing Sunday, in a few of hours of the women’s national championship match. It is really a recreation the Lady Vols have not played in due to the fact 2008 when they received their eighth and final nationwide title under Pat Summitt.
Caldwell will be introduced at a news meeting Tuesday, wrapping up a lookup that commenced April 1 when White fired Kellie Harper following five seasons at her alma mater and a 108-52 report. She replaced Holly Warlick, promoted to substitute Summitt and fired right after likely 172-67 in seven seasons.
“From the beginning, our objective has been to find a dynamic head mentor who can restore our women’s basketball program to national prominence,” White explained in a assertion. “Kim Caldwell is the suitable human being to guide us.”
Caldwell gained the 2024 Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Calendar year award for her operate at Marshall, heading 26-7 to generate the program’s 2nd NCAA Event berth at any time and initially considering that 1997. She is 217-31 in eight seasons as a head coach.
She led her alma mater Glenville Condition to the 2022 Division II national title and has gained seven NCAA Event berths. Caldwell received the Pat Summitt Trophy for the 2021-22 season as the WBCA’s NCAA Division II coach of the yr.
Caldwell stated in a statement she was humbled to take this occupation at a historic plan.
“I can not assistance but mirror on accepting the Pat Summitt Trophy a few seasons back and be moved by the good duty and prospect of now main and making upon the remarkable Woman Vol custom she crafted,” Caldwell claimed.
In her just one season at Marshall, Caldwell went 17-1 in successful the Solar Belt Convention frequent season and event titles.
Marshall ranked in the best five nationally in 7 statistical groups. They led the nation in 3-pointers tried and third in 3s made for every video game with extra than 10 per video game. The Herd rated fourth nationally in averaging 85.3 factors a sport.
The Herd rated second in forcing 24.2 turnovers for every activity although environment a program report for most wins in a period. Marshall hadn’t gained at least 20 games due to the fact 1990-91.
White reported Caldwell has a winning formula with a “high-octane offense and strain defense” that creates success.
“In this new era of college athletics, it was very important that we discovered an revolutionary head mentor with a sturdy track history of profitable titles,” White claimed. “We are keen to return the Lady Vols to a championship amount, and we’re self-assured that Kim Caldwell is the mentor who can guide us back again to the top rated.”
The native of Parkersburg, West Virginia, helped direct Glenville State to the 2011 Division II match as a player. She started coaching as an assistant at Ohio Valley College later that year, expended a season back at Glenville Point out adopted by three seasons as an assistant at Sacramento Point out.
Hired in 2016 as head coach, Caldwell led her alma mater to six Mountain East frequent year titles and 4 convention event titles. The four-time Mountain East coach of the calendar year was 191-24, which includes 132-12 in league participate in. She went 35-1 and successful the 2022 countrywide title and 33-3 and slipping in the nationwide semifinals in 2023.
This hiring caps White’s very first higher-profile coaching look for at Tennessee considering the fact that bringing football mentor Josh Heupel from Central Florida only times soon after White was hired as Ad in 2021.
While Advert at Buffalo, White employed Bobby Hurley, now at Arizona Point out, and Nate Oats, whose Alabama Crimson Tide misplaced in the countrywide semifinals Saturday, as men’s basketball coaches. White also employed Felisha Legette-Jack to mentor Buffalo’s women’s method.
She went 199-115 with 4 NCAA Event berths right before currently being hired to coach her alma mater Syracuse in 2022.
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This tale has been up-to-date to explain Caldwell the Woman Vols’ fourth head coach in their NCAA era.
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