BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It has been almost a year since Kim Caldwell was hired as the Lady Vols basketball coach.
It wasn’t just her first year leading a historic program. It was also the year she became a mother. Caldwell gave birth to her son, Conor, on Jan. 20, and only missed one game when the Lady Vols played at Texas three days later.
She led Tennessee to an upset of UConn, and now the No. 5 seed Lady Vols (24-9) are in the Sweet 16. They’ll face No. 1 seed Texas (33-3) at Legacy Arena on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Caldwell has been asked often this season if she has been able to put into words everything that has happened. She had an answer on Friday.
“My answer is, I’m just thankful and grateful to be the head coach of this program. It was something I could not wrap my head around until about right now,” Caldwell said. “To want a baby your whole life and then God gives it to you right as you’re the most stressed you have ever been and you are, like, ‘Oh, we’re doing this now?’
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“Your eyes are wide open, and you’re coaching pregnant, and then you’re coaching in postpartum. Now that we’re kind of through it and we have a routine, I think God knew exactly what he was doing.”
Caldwell said she’s just thankful to be the coach of the Lady Vols.
“It’s been an amazing ride,” Caldwell said. “I hope we can keep it going for as long as we can because I’m not quite ready to stop coaching these players yet.”
Caldwell thought the Lady Vols were capable of being a top-15 team in the country once she saw them after the first few practices. Then once they started playing games, the goal became a top-10 team.
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The Lady Vols never quite achieved that, suffering too many losses in the gauntlet of ranked matchups in the SEC. They were ranked as high as No. 11 before losing the last two games of the season.
“It would be a nice story line that, hey, we did it at the right time,” Caldwell said. “I don’t know if we can do it or not, but to be in the top eight would be great. We have an opportunity to play for that.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
