Kim Caldwell just made another big move for the Lady Vols and Tennessee AD Danny White has to be smiling
It’s been an eventful offseason for Kim Caldwell and the Lady Vols after finishing the year on an eight game losing streak. The good news for Tennessee, though, is that things are trending in the right direction.
Tennessee Vols athletic director Danny White caught some heat for his decision to retain Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell following a season that ended on a sour note (the Lady Vols will carry an active eight-game losing streak into next season).
White, however, is confident this past season was nothing more than a speed bump for Caldwell and the program.
“I’m proud of Kim as a leader,” said White on WNML’s SportsTalk last week. “Coaching is a complex profession. Talented coaches tend to excel early in their career — this is all different coaches in all different sports — in their ability to connect with athletes, and know the game, motivate, and all of those things.
“But as you rise in the profession — and in this instance, take over bigger organizations — management and being a CEO is really important, too. And I admire how Kim, coming off of a disappointing year two, after a really exciting year one, evaluated changes that needed to be made in our program and made them pretty decisively and aggressively. And I think we’re in a great place now.”
White’s confidence has been rewarded this offseason as Caldwell has been on fire in the transfer portal, landing several big-time additions as well as landing a high-profile recruit in former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo
Lady Vols land another big transfer addition
Caldwell kept the good vibes going on Monday by landing Auburn transfer Harissoum Coulibaly.
Coulibaly, 5-foot-10 from France, averaged 10.4 points per game as a freshman this past season.
Coulibaly is the sixth transfer addition for the Lady Vols this offseason.
It’s been a very productive April for Caldwell, but expectations should be tempered for the program this upcoming season until we see how this roster gels.