Tennessee named Kim Caldwell its new women’s basketball head coach on Sunday.
Per The Next Hoops’ Talia Goodman, Caldwell will take over the SEC program after one standout season as Marshall’s head coach, her first Division I job. According to WSAZ-TV’s Keith Morehouse, Marshall athletic director Christian Spears confirmed Caldwell’s departure.
“One of the great things Kim did is establish a belief system that we can win here,” Spears said.
Caldwell led her alma mater, Glenville State, to six Mountain East Conference regular-season championships and four conference tournament titles in seven seasons as head coach. The Pioneers won the Division I national title in 2022 and made last year’s Final Four before Caldwell accepted Marshall’s job.
Caldwell promptly led Marshall to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1997 with a program-record 26 wins. The Thundering Herd went 17-1 in the Sun Belt and averaged 85.3 points per game, which ranked fourth in the nation, before suffering a first-round loss to Virginia Tech.
The D1 Rookie Coach of the Year quickly parlayed that instant success into a job at Tennessee. Caldwell will replace Kellie Harper, whose fifth season ended with a second-round NCAA tournament elimination.
ESPN’s Andrea Adelson noted it’s the first time Tennessee has hired a women’s head coach outside of the program since Pat Summitt ended her legendary run. Harper and Holly Warlick were both Tennessee natives who played for the Lady Vols.
Caldwell inherits a prestigious program that has never missed March Madness, but Tennessee hasn’t made the Final Four since Summitt won her eighth national title in 2008. The Vols went 108-52 under Harper.