KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The Tennessee Lady Vols are two weeks in to official practice for the 2024-2025 season.
Tennessee is only a month away from an exhibition game against Carson-Newman and a little over a month away from officially opening the season on Nov. 5 at home against Samford.
The Lady Vols enter this season under the new leadership of Kim Caldwell.
Coach Caldwell comes to Tennessee implementing a new style of play for the team. She continues to harp on a fast-paced and high-octane offense and defense.
It’s something she says several players are brand new to.
“They’re working really hard,” Caldwell said. “It’s taking them some time. Again, everything we do is a little bit different. They have to unlearn a lot of things that they spent 18, 20 years learning, so it’s taking some time. They’re going at it hard. We’re still trying to fix a lot of things; watching film, coaching them in practice. They see it. They see the vision. They wanna do it, so they’re getting better everyday.”
One new thing Coach Caldwell and her staff brought to Tennessee is the whiteboard system. It is something that coach says she has done for a while.
“Coach has done a really good job of holding us accountable,” Tennessee fifth year guard Jewel Spear said. “We have like this whiteboard that we keep in the practice gym, and she’s holding us accountable for crashing the boards offensively, boxing out, and our turnovers.”
“We are just making sure that they are self aware,” Caldwell said. “Because sometimes, as a player, you make the same mistake four or five times. You don’t really realize it over a two hour practice, but when you have to see it and you compare it to everyone else, then you kind of realize that it is something that needs to be fixed. It is not a player favorite.”
Coach Caldwell and the Lady Vols welcome Carson-Newman to Food City Center on Oct. 31 for an exhibition. They officially open the season at home on Nov. 5 against Samford.